Elsie Lange
Macedon Ranges Shire Council rejected community calls for a 24 hour cat curfew at a meeting on Wednesday night.
In developing its Domestic Animal Management Plan for 2021-2025, the council undertook two stages of community consultation, which included requests to extend the council’s current sunset to sunrise curfew.
Council opted to further investigate the issue for the next domestic animal plan in 2026.
Community consultation found there were only “moderate levels of compliance” with the current cat curfew, and there had been ongoing concerns about the impact of cats on the environment.
The consultation also highlighted community support for the council to offer low-cost cat desexing, to reduce the number of strays and protect wildlife.
The second round of consultation included various community stances on the cat debate, with some urging the 24/7 cat curfew, some sticking to a better enforced existing curfew, and others who wanted the curfew abandoned completely.
In the report’s qualitative survey results, residents raised concerns about the number of domestic cats observed outside of the curfew, as well as the need to educate residents about a coexisting requirement not to let cats trespass or create nuisance on a neighbour’s property.
Another respondent suggested the report did not take into account the positive benefits of cat ownership, including their value as companion animals to single people and the elderly, and an additional suggestion that cats help to control vermin.
Of the 32 respondents to the second stage of consultation, 60 per cent were 45 to 65 years old, and 60 per cent of them were women.
Other issues that emerged from the domestic animal plan’s community consultation included a want for better infrastructure for dogs in open space, purpose-built off-leash dog parks, improved education around picking up dog poo and availability of bag dispensers to address this, as well as increased enforcement of leash requirements.
Macedon Ranges Resident Association secretary Christine Pruneau said that the council were handling all of the issues outlined in the DAMP in a “b]alanced and responsible” way.
“There is recognition of those calling for 24 hour cat curfews but also that more research and consultation is needed before going in that direction,” Ms Pruneau said.
