If you live in Anketell, Bertram, Calista, Casuarina, Hope Valley, Kwinana Beach, Kwinana Town Centre or Leda, your cat is affected by this.
Kwinana council has introduced tough new cat bylaws. If you live in Anketell, Bertram, Calista., Casuarina, Hope Valley, Kwinana Beach, Kwinana Town Centre, or Leda you are affected by this. The legislation states that from April 6 2022, your household can have a maximum of 2 cats, which must be kept under control at all times.
You will be in violation of the bylaw if cats that are outside your property and not “held, securely tethered, in a cage, or controlled by other means to prevent escape”. Mayor Adams has said that “formal enforcement” will be necessary if warnings and education are unheeded by residents. If you have more than two cats, you will need to apply for a cattery license.
This is not all bad news.
Cats that are not allowed to roam live three times longer (That’s 50 cat years!) and don’t get into scraps with strays, which saves vet bills. They also don’t need as many vaccinations because they’re not coming into contact with other cats as much.
Many of us like to let our cats roam and hunt, and the vet bills are a small price to pay. We love our cats, we want them to have a good life and we might ask – how much damage can they do? After all, we feed them, they don’t need to hunt down dinner.
It’s a fair question and it’s easy to get annoyed at yet another council bylaw, but thankfully (or regretfully, depending on how you feel) there are some solid statistics behind the steps. The domestic cats in Kwinana that are allowed to roam, not the strays, kill almost one million (914, 355) native animals per year, just in Kwinana, and it’s because of the damage that hunting cats do in Kwinana, that the shire has taken action.
Can we do both?
But how to keep both the council and the cat happy? How do we give our cats the nature experience they need, and also keep them contained?
More and more people take their cats for a walk on a leash. This will get them up and about, and will let them have new experiences. It’s not exactly roaming free, however. Cats need stimulation, and walking on a leash will provide only a part of that. Toys are important, so that the cat can exercise those hunting instincts, and a combination of these two will help to stimulate the cat that is confined.
Soft netting
To give their cat a more natural experience and allow an outdoor experience, some people opt to build steel mesh cages in or around their property, but these things look ugly, and who wants to live in a cage? There’s a way to do this, that does not involve building a heavy metal cage in your back yard.
Soft, strong Vinyl netting between the fence and the house will keep your cat contained, but also able to experience the outside world, chase butterflies and lie in the sun. It’ll also look awesome and improve the rentability of any property. After all, 27% of households have a cat, and if they want to live in Kwinana they’ll have to keep it contained.
There’s a way to Kittysafe any space, be it the dead side of the house, a patio, verandah or courtyard. All it takes is some imagination and some handy skills. We know, Kitttysafe can cat safe spaces large and small. We don’t sell netting supplies, but these are readily available if you wish to attempt your own installation, otherwise you know that can always call Kittysafe in, to do a long lasting professional install for you.
Source:
https://www.kwinana.wa.gov.au/council/news/2022/april/cat-local-law-introduced-in-kwinana
