Councils laud no cat regos

THE RSPCA has decried the failure to include registration rules in Tasmania’s new Cat Management Plan, but the local government sector is relieved it has been spared the cost of enforcement.

Local Government Association of Tasmania chief executive Katrena Stephenson said the state’s 29 councils had not supported any move to bring in cat registration because the compliance costs would be onerous.

“It was a sensible decision,” Dr Stephenson said.

“Dog registration fees do not nearly fund council’s dog management responsibilities.

“The system certainly does not pay for itself and we did not want to see another management layer in relation to cats to be brought in.”

Dr Stephenson said there was a big difference between cats and dogs when it came to registration and confinement.

“Dogs can produce an immediate threat when out on the streets whereas that is not the case with cats,” she said.

RSPCA Tasmania CEO Peter West called the failure to introduce cat registration and confinement provisions in the new management plan a missed opportunity in a state with the highest per capita cat ownership in the nation.

But he said the proposed legislation also provided some significant benefits for primary producers and wildlife and a new focus on tackling the problem of feral cats.

Amendments proposed in the plan include compulsory desexing and microchipping of all cats and a limit of four cats on a property before a permit is required.

Farmers would be allowed to trap, seize or humanely destroy cats on primary production land under the changes. Those measures are currently limited to livestock graziers.

Mr West said any control measures needed to be humane and work alongside initiatives to better protect vulnerable birds and animals.