CAT CRACKDOWN: Furious Pet Owners Put on Notice as Council Unleashes Tough New Laws to IMPOUND Roaming Felines With $300 Fines… And a Strict ‘Two-Cat Limit’ Per Home!
- Furious cat owners in a wealthy Perth suburb are on high alert as tough new council laws come into effect, targeting beloved family pets.
- Any cat caught roaming in 64 designated ‘prohibited’ parks and reserves will be seized by council rangers and IMPOUNDED.
- Owners will be forced to pay a hefty $300 fine plus pound costs to retrieve their pet, in a move slammed by some as a revenue-raising exercise.
- The sweeping new by-laws also introduce a strict two-cat limit per household, sparking fears for the future of multi-pet families.
Cat owners in one of Perth’s southern suburbs have been put on notice as a tough new council crackdown on roaming felines has come into force, with owners facing $300 fines and the prospect of their beloved pets being impounded.
In a dramatic move, the City of Melville has designated 64 popular reserves and parks—including Tompkins Park and Alfred Cove Nature Reserve—as ‘cat-free zones’. Any cat found inside these areas will now be seized and transported to an animal facility.
Mayor Katy Mair confirmed that offenders will be hit in the pocket. “Registered domestic cats… are returned to their owners at their own cost and fines are applicable for breach of the Cat Local Law,” Ms Mair told Yahoo News. Stray or unregistered cats will be ‘re-homed’.
As if that wasn’t enough, the council is also rolling out a strict two-cat limit per household. While a ‘grandfather clause’ will protect residents who already own more than two registered cats, anyone wanting to add to their feline family in the future must apply for special council approval.
The council has defended the hardline stance, claiming it’s necessary to protect native wildlife from the “guardians” of the environment.
The dramatic local crackdown comes amid a national reckoning over the shocking environmental toll of cats. Experts have revealed that feral and domestic cats combined are responsible for hunting and killing a staggering two billion native animals across Australia every single year.
Since 1960, the cat plague has cost the Australian economy an eye-watering $18 billion to manage. Their hunting instincts have made them one of the most destructive predators on Earth, wiping out 1.5 billion native mammals, birds, reptiles, and frogs annually.
The City of Melville’s new law comes after the neighbouring City of Bayswater had its own attempt to control roaming cats humiliatingly rejected by the Western Australian parliament, which has blocked similar moves from 23 other councils in the last decade.
Meanwhile, in a move slammed by critics as a blatant ‘cash grab’, the Victorian government has just revealed it will double the state’s pet registration fee, a cost that will be passed on to 1.4 million pet-owning households already struggling with the cost of living.