SOUTH AUSTRALIAN LEGISLATIVE APPROACH TO CAT MANAGEMENT
We have based our discussion of the main features of the South
Australian Dog and Cat Management Act on two papers, one by
McCann at UAM3 in Canberra 1 and
one by Kelly at UAM4 in Melbourne.2
Differentiating owned and unowned cats allows
responsible cat ownership to be promoted at the same time as it
allows for the humane removal of unowned cats. The drafters of the
South Australian bill thus made identification of owned cats the
major plank of their legislation. Under the Act:
ï a cat is defined as legally owned if identified in
accordance with the regulations
ï owned cats are protected unless they are in remote areas,
National Parks or designated sanctuaries
ï unowned cats can, with the consent of the landholder, be
removed without risk of civil liability
ï a council may introduce bylaws to manage cats should this
be the wish of the residents
The Act is a sophisticated instrument that takes account of the
complexity of the issues involved. (See: Issues and
rationale)
The Act is essentially a framework that
protects owned cats while making it legal for councils to deal
with unowned cats if they wish. Any council wishing to establish a
more formal cat management strategy may do so by introducing their
own local laws. As McCann says, the Act is based on freedom of
choice:
A person is free to identify, or not identify; free to permit
an unowned cat on their land, or to remove it. Consequently, the
strategy will largely be funded on a user pays basis. If a land
holder wishes to implement the legislation, either to protect
their cat or to remove an unwanted one, it would be at their own
expense. If councils choose to undertake a cat management
program, they will pay for it. 1
For our part, we see it as an excellent example of a state
government searching for middle ground in urban animal management.
We look forward to the upcoming review of the Dog and Cat
Management Act to see how the cat provisions have been
accepted and implemented by councils and the community-at-large.
1.
McCann KJ. 1994. Cat management in South Australia. In: Paxton DW, editor. Urban Animal Management: proceedings of the Third National Conference on Urban Animal Management in Australia (Canberra, 1994). Sydney: AVA: 99-102.
2.
Kelly D. 1995. Cat legislation in South Australia. In: Paxton DW, Boland P, editors. Urban Animal Management: proceedings of the Fourth National Conference on Urban Animal Management in Australia (Melbourne, 1995). Sydney: AVA: 133-139.
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