While people are going out to play in Australia, cats are locked away

AUSTRALIA may be slowly easing lockdown restrictions for the general population but one group is having its movements restricted by the authorities – cats.

Cities across the country are imposing round-the-clock curfews on the animals – not because of Covid-19 but in order to “protect local wildlife” and “improve neighbourhood relations”.

Some areas have brought in nighttime lockdowns for the pets, prompting protests from many residents.

The council of Bendigo, a city of about 100,000 people north of Melbourne, this month voted unanimously for a law that means cats must stay within the boundary of their owner’s property day and night.

Bendigo previously banned cats from going out between sunset and sunrise.

“Cats will instinctively hunt and kill wildlife, even if they are not hungry,” according to the council’s website.

Curfews also mean fewer “accidents with cars, cat fights, picking up diseases or pests, or getting lost”. It adds that such restrictions lead to “less spraying and howling, causing dogs to bark... and defecating in gardens”.

The City of Knox, in the suburbs of Melbourne, is already trialling a 24-hour cat lockdown, due to come into force from April 2022. Bendigo councillors said owners will have to pay up to AUS$120 (£65) to reclaim their pet if it is found outside and impounded by the council.

Julie Sloan, a councillor, said: “It’s important to make a distinction that the proposal does not restrict cats to indoors 24/7. Rather cats must be contained to the property 24/7,” she told ABC television.

Yesterday wildlife advocates in northern Queensland urged regional governments to do the same. Beau Peberdy, president of FNQ Wildlife Rescue said “cat curfews and tougher laws should be introduced Australia-wide”.

About 80 per cent of Bendigo residents said they supported the move.

But in other areas, people said they were “really disappointed” by what they called overzealous restrictions.

“From my understanding owls are the biggest predator of wildlife yet our domestic cats are continually blamed,” a resident of the City of Knox wrote.

Brian May, the Queen guitarist, even waded into the debate when such measures were first being proposed last year.

“What are they gonna do next ? Put a curfew on birds in case they might poop on Mr. Precious’s garden,” he said. “I also note the lame attempt to try to pretend this is about protection of wild animals. It’s not.”

Several Australian regions recently ended months-long Covid lockdowns and the country has eased some external border restrictions.