19-05-2025
‘Bold and visionary' WA council fights back on cat containment
A West Australian local government will this week become the latest to attempt to enact cat containment laws – and this time, the attempt might stick where others have not.
Twenty-three WA local governments have previously tried to implement permanent cat containment laws since 2014, some more than once, but been disallowed by a government committee that reviews shires' legislation against the state Cat Act.
Only two, Northam and Narrogin, have successfully enacted permanent containment laws, the WA Feral Cat Working Group describing this as slipping under the radar for unknown reasons, and saying this reveals inconsistency in the way the state committee interprets laws.
The Shire of Pingelly, south-east of Perth and north of Narrogin, has had one attempt knocked back, but has now attempted what feral cat working group executive Bruce Webber calls a 'bold and visionary' take on the 'Clause 82 approach', in which a local government is allowed to adopt the existing law of another local government via a clause of the Cat Act. Its Save the Numbats Local law closely mirrors Narrogin's successful 2016 law and takes effect this Friday.
Shire of Pingelly chief executive Andrew Dover said there were only 2000 numbats left in the wild and the area was one of their strongholds.
'Once these animals are gone, they're not coming back,' he said.
'We are also home to woylies, pygmy possums, phascogales, chuditch and a wide variety of birdlife and reptiles, all of which are predated by cats.
'We must preserve them for future generations.
'We also wish to protect our cats. This is beneficial for them as well.'
