25/10/2026
🤔LET'S CLEAR UP SOME CONFUSION🤔
Regarding our last post. When we say that containment and limits won't stop this, we meant the death of the neonatal kittens that the two rescues we linked to had come into their care and die. That's it. That's what the post was about. Not owned cats, not the proposed by-law, neonatal kittens dying and foster carers having to experience that loss. Desexing would indeed stop neonatal kittens dying because they wouldn't be born. We hope that's clear enough for everyone to understand.
Considering so many people want to talk about the cat by-law that includes containment and limits though, let's talk about it in depth.
We've attached screenshots of the report to council that was in the October 13th meeting Agenda. This report includes everything people need to know and is publicly available on the councils meeting minutes and agendas page. You can find it here: https://www.onkaparingacity.com/Council/Council-and-committees/Agendas-and-Minutes/Council-meetings
For all of those people mentioning only pets and feral cats, screenshot 1 shows you that even council uses the same classifications as rescues. Owned, Semi-owned, Unowned and Feral cats. Urban areas do not have feral cats.
Screenshot 2, shows that RSPCA has 150 physical spaces for cats. Half of what they had at Lonsdale as in 2023 they told the media they had 300 spaces. It also shows that they were at 60% capacity for cats at the time of their response. This is important to note for later screenshots.
Screenshot 3, above the table, it says that from councils own observations and the RSPCA, "we have not identified any significant differences or noticeable changes that could be directly attributed to the implementation of such by-laws." Council then goes on to say they already have a high level of compliance.
Screenshot 4 looks as Feral cats. Note: "The management of feral cat species is a shared responsibility between State Government,
Federal Government and individual landowners." Council is not responsible for the management of feral cats. Regarding semi-owned and unowned cats council says "Unowned and semi-owned cats are the most difficult to identify and can move between owned pet and feral cat populations." The unowned and semi-owned cats are the population rescues work with on a daily basis and are what all of our posts are about as this population is the only one we take into care.
Screenshot 5 then goes into council's current management strategies and responsibilities.
Screenshots 6 and 7 is where the report goes into other councils responses to Onkaparinga asking them about the effectiveness of their by-laws. Alexandrina Council responded "that their Cat By-law has had limited effectiveness and is not
currently enforced as a standalone regulatory framework.... Their Community Safety Team has not identified any measurable benefits from the by-law to date. Enforcement is further challenged by difficulties proving a cat’s age, establishing
ownership of wandering cats, managing the risks and potential liability associated with
trapping cats, and limited capacity for holding or rehoming unclaimed animals."
Mitcham’s response while seeming to say that their by-law is positive goes on to say "Enforcement relies largely on complaints, witness statements, and photographic evidence, with
challenges arising when complainants are unwilling to provide formal evidence or when
owners require time to achieve compliance. Their council continues to receive a high volume of
cat-related complaints and is not currently undertaking trapping due to legal and liability
concerns."
Marion reported in 2024 "Council reported an increase in seized and detained cats since the by-law was introduced, while nuisance complaints remained constant. They noted that the by-law has created significant administrative effort with limited outcomes and that nuisance complaints are generally easier to enforce than curfew breaches. Council also identified unintended consequences, including reluctance from community members to assist with trapping or legal proceedings, and an expectation that council would manage cat related issues on their behalf.
Despite the by-law being in place since 2021, only one expiation notice had been issued."
Screenshots 8 and 9 then goes into responses to engagement. Screenshot 10 then gives an overview of the draft by-law.
Screenshot 11 is an important one. This one goes into resourcing and income predictions. We want to draw attention to this part:
"An estimated $1-2 million per year will be required to administer mandatory cat containment
requirements, using the estimated number of owned and unowned cats in our council area and
the commensurate costs for dog management. This would mean approximately a 1 to 1.5 per
cent increase in rates, or about $20 to $30 for each ratepayer on average, per annum."
The by-law is going to increase rates by 1 to 1.5% or about $20-30 per ratepayer. That's every ratepayer whether you own a cat or not.
Screenshot 12 then says "Introducing cat registration fees could partially offset new costs. If cat registration fees were set at the same fee as dogs for all registered cat owners, then an estimated $270,000 in cat registration income could be generated per annum." So for all the people thinking that registration fees are going to cover this proposed by-law, council's own report shows it won't.
Screenshot 12 then goes into challenges. "Detecting non-compliance and obtaining
evidence to support regulatory action can be
resource intensive and often impractical.
A by-law will not give authorised persons the
power to seize and detain or dispose of an
identified pet cat."
"Community members often expect councils to
remove nuisance, stray and roaming cats
from neighbourhoods and environmentally
sensitive areas. Whilst a council by-law is intended to regulate owned and identifiable cats,
community concerns often relate to issues
caused by unowned cats, semi-owned cats,
and feral cat populations. These populations sit outside the scope of by-law enforcement."
The two above quotes show that council does not have the legislative authority to seize and detain an owned cat and that community concerns often relate to unowned and semi-owned cats which is outside of the scope of a by-law.
Screenshot 13 then says of the impacts of the by-law:
"The practical effectiveness of increased cat
containment enforcement may be limited by
the availability of suitable shelter at the
RSPCA and rehoming capacity.
Without sufficient capacity to accommodate
additional impounded cats, expanded
enforcement programs may simply transfer
pressures from councils to animal welfare
and rescue organisations that are already
operating near capacity, particularly during
peak breeding seasons."
The end of this screenshot, and screenshot 14 then goes into the scenarios of trapped cats. The first, an owned cat wearing a collar but without a microchip being trapped. Note that the cat is released with our without a by-law and there is no enforcement.
The second scenario is owned and microchipped. The cat must still be released but enforcement action can be taken. Note that at the bottom it says "Even where by-law enforcement action is available, the power to detain a pet cat does not
exist, as such the immediate issue remains."
The third and fourth scenarios are regarding unowned and semi-owned cats.
For an unowned cat, with a by-law "No action can be taken because there is no owner" for unowned cats and "Should the RSPCA be at capacity again, the cat must be released where it was found. No further action can be taken and the immediate issue remains."
For a semi-owned cat, with a by-law "Where the council has evidence that the resident is regularly feeding the cat then the resident may be keeping the cat pursuant to the by-law and will be
encouraged to register it." This part then goes on to say:
"Challenges: Difficulty in evidencing semi-owned. Should evidence exist, enforcement may result in
person no longer feeding cat (abandoning)
Outcome: If unowned/semi owned cat may be trapped and detained.
NOTE: Should the RSPCA be at capacity again, the cat must be released where it was found. No
further action can be taken and the immediate issue remains."
Every scenario shows that the cat is released to where it was trapped as soon as the RSPCA is at capacity. That cat, if undesexed, is not released back to where it was trapped desexed. It's released to go back to breeding.
Screenshot 15 then goes into the early engagement responses which we contributed to. Note that it says
"Feedback identified mixed views on both the need for a by-law and how it may operate.
Support centred on reducing nuisance behaviours, protecting wildlife and improving cat welfare. Concerns focused on enforcement costs and practicality, impacts on shelters and veterinary services, affordability, rental housing barriers, and the challenges of confining existing cats.
Common themes for consideration included reducing nuisance and protecting wildlife and cats, enforcement capacity and financial impacts, animal welfare and service capacity, affordability
and the ability to comply and exemptions and confinement arrangements. Participants also
provided suggestions for alternatives to a by-law such as targeted desexing, microchipping,
education and partnerships to address unowned and semi-owned cats."
Nowhere does it say that containment of owned cats was not supported. Practical implications were the main concerns along with management of the cat populations that the by-law will not reach.
The end of screenshot 15 and screenshot 16 go into alternative options including desexing programs.
Screenshot 17 goes into the financial implications. Note it again says
"Additional funding is estimated at $1-2 million dollars each year for the management of cats under a by-law."
It also says:
"Increase in demand and community expectation to address nuisance cats. Capturing cats in breach of regulations is difficult and if caught there are limited options for the detention of cats, particularly when shelters are at capacity."
"A by-law may not meet community expectations, particularly if council is unable to achieve the outcomes due to limitations in the powers available under current state legislation.
Some community concerns may remain unresolved despite council taking all reasonable steps to implement and enforce the by-law.
There is also a risk that the community may perceive council as delaying action while awaiting state government reforms, particularly if the timing and scope of those reforms remain uncertain."
On screenshot 18, under financial/business sustainability it reiterates the costs previously stated and says:
"Costly to council and ratepayers to implement and manage with limited impact on the issue."
Under environment:
"A Cats By-law would primarily regulate owned cats and would have limited ability to address semi-owned, unowned and feral populations. A by-law alone is unlikely to resolve the broader
environmental impacts associated with all cats in the community."
And for those that think we somehow hate wildlife or don't care, let's make it clear that we love our wildlife, we actively reduce the unowned and semi-owned cat population to help both cats and wildlife. Some of our volunteer's hobbies include bird and wildlife photography and landscape photography. Liking cats does not equal hating wildlife or not caring about wildlife.
Screenshot 19 then goes into opportunities and next steps.
It may seem weird that a cat rescue is saying that by-laws with mandatory containment and cat limit requirements won't solve the issues. It may even seem counter-productive. If councils report did not say that the by-law would have limited impact on the issue, other councils reporting that theirs are ineffective and that it's just going to increase rates with little outcome to show for it, we would be the first shouting from the rooftops to bring it on.
We go on the evidence. It's attached to this post in black and white. There are attachments which we did not include. They can be found by clicking the link provided.
A cat containment by-law is not going to solve the issue of cats being born on the street. It won't even solve the issue of owned cats roaming in most cases. Council staff have said as much. When public consultation opens. Don't go on emotion and biases. Make an informed decision based on what council staff have reported. That's all we're asking for along with people realising that their complaints are not going to be resolved in most cases.
