CATS could be subject to a night curfew under an animal management plan being developed by Wyndham Council.
The draft plan is aimed at reducing the number of stray cats in the municipality by keeping cats indoors at night, trapping wandering cats and encouraging owners to have their pets registered and microchipped.
Cr Bob Fairclough said 93 per cent of cats taken to the municipal pound each year were not microchipped or registered. He said stray and unowned cats were a major problem because they could carry diseases.
Cr Peter Gibbons said other councils had cat curfews and had found that they helped reduce stray numbers and prevented cats from becoming a nuisance.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Post a comment below.
The council is also proposing a series of community education programs about responsible pet ownership.
“We will run a public education plan about feeding stray cats to encourage residents to either assist to remove stray cats, or to arrange to take ownership of the animal,” mayor Heather Marcus said.
“Other measures will include an ongoing cat trapping program in commercial, industrial and environmentally sensitive areas, ‘hot spot’ trapping in some areas and a continuing arrangement with local veterinary clinics to provide discounted cat desexing.”
The plan is available for comment at wyndham.vic.gov.au until May 24.
