This post is an update of a 2011 post entitled ‘The Cat Crisis Coalition and mandatory desexing – how’s it working out for cats?‘
Below are the suburbs in Victoria who have implemented mandatory/compulsory desexing laws. Given most often these laws are passed with the purported aim of ‘reducing cat overpopulation’ – then these laws should near universally see a reduction in cat intakes.
The formula goes something like this: cat laws = more cats desexed + less cats entering pounds.
The longer the laws are in place, the bigger the reduction we should see (fewer and fewer cats in the ‘breeding’ population) until practically no cats are bred at all. Or as it is often called – the drive to a “No-Birth” nation.
This – pro-mandatory desexing advocates claim – is the secret to ending shelter killing.
Please note: From 2007 all animals over three months of age must be microchipped and registered with council (this is a statewide requirement under ‘The Domestic (Feral and Nuisance) Animals Act 1994?).
All figures unless otherwise specified, are pulled from current and previously issued Domestic Animal Management Plans.
Cities who have implemented mandatory desexing, but have not released enough information to make a determination of their effectiveness (which is weird, because if they were enormously successful, surely they’d be singing their own praises?) and have been left off this report include: Brimbank, Cardinia and Wodonga. (If I am able to secure more information, I will update this post)
If you listen to mandatory desexing advocates, these kinds of programs are a magic bullet to less cat impoundments. At the very least, in the majority of cases passing the laws should result in a positive outcome. Less cats in pounds, right?
| City | Mandatory desexing law detail | Other info | Cat impoundment stats | Conclusion |
| Campaspse | Since 2008, all newly registered cats need to be desexed prior to being registered. | Council also have a two cat limit.Cat registrations have dropped from 1,850 in 2008 to 1,160 in 2011. |
|
The number of cats impounded has dropped by more than half since the laws were introduced. |
| Yarra Ranges | From April 2010 Council adopted a mandate which saw all new cats needing be desexed before they can be registered. | In addition there is an 8pm – 6am cat curfew. |
|
While a modest improvement, this city definitely seems to be moving in the right direction. |
It’s worth remembering that new laws aren’t free. Not only do they devour significant amounts of money during implementation, they have an inbuilt ‘opportunity cost’ – that is, when we implement an initiative which doesn’t work, we don’t implement something else that may have.
Having a law not reduce cat impounds is not just a neutral, but a terrible outcome, because it delays efforts that may have directly saved lives.
| City | Mandatory desexing law detail | Other info | Cat impoundment stats | Conclusion |
| Frankston | From the 1st September 2008, all dogs and cats in Frankston must be desexed before registration.Council also forcibly desexes all impounded animals before they can be claimed at the owners expense. | Also forced desexing for any animal impounded.In 1998 Council introduced a cat curfew.Pet registrations dropped from 29,444 in 2008, to 27,959 in 2010, requiring Frankston Council to commence a widescale door-knocking program. |
|
Despite having some of the most draconian laws in the state, the cat impound rate for Frankston has barely changed since 1996. |
| Kingston | 1 January 2009, Kingston Council has had the requirement that all pets are desexed before registration. | In late 2010, Kingston also introduced a night time cat curfew. |
|
After an initial surge the year the laws were introduced, the stats have shown cat impounds to have remained constant, but have not dropped back to their pre-law levels. |
| Mornington Peninsula | Since September 2005, the Mornington Peninsula have required mandatory desexing before registration for cats over three months old.That means the council has had the legislation for nearly five years. | The shire already had a 24-hour curfew on cats that requires they be confined to the property of their owner.The number of cats registered with the Shire 2008 has dropped from 6,355 in 2008, to 5,827 in 2013 |
|
True, without figures prior to 2005 we have no way of knowing whether impound rates have increased or decreased since the laws were passed, however the Mornington Peninsula has one of the highest cat impound rates in the state and these figures of around 500 a year, seem to be pretty much static. |
| Pyrenees | Since October 2009, cats must be desexed (as well as microchipped) before they will be registered in Pyrenees Shire. | Cats must also be confined to an owner’s property between the hours of sunset & sunrise |
|
The cat ‘problem’ in this shire was tiny, with just 85 cats impounded in 2006/07 before the laws were introduced.And while on the surface it may look like the rate of impounds have dropped since the law passed, as it wasn’t in place until October, the 2008/09 figure of 32 impounds was recorded before the laws were in place.Cat impounds therefore were already declining, without mandatory desexing being enforced. |
Cat laws are supposed to reduce cat intakes. Either immediately, or over time. To have cat impounds increase is a disaster, as not only are the laws not achieving their stated aims, they are causing a direct increase in killing. Meanwhile programs that could have reduced shelter intakes are being delayed. It is a double whammy for shelter killing that unfortunately means an awful lot of work to rectify.
| City | Mandatory desexing law detail | Other info | Cat impoundment stats | Other notes |
| Greater Shepparton | From April 2008, Council mandated that all cats are desexed before registration at three months. | Also have introduced a cat curfew requiring cats are kept in at night. |
|
The impact of the new desexing laws were startling, with Council taking a third more cats in the year it was introduced.
Numbers are yet to return to pre-introduction levels. |
| Knox | Since April 2011 pets are required to be desexed before their second registration (or more than a year old). This legislation is not retrospective. |
|
While the rate of cat impounds seemed to be on the increase, mandatory desexing laws have done nothing to arrest this climb.
Impound rates have more than doubled between 2006 and 2012. |
|
| Latrobe | From 10 April 2008 Council introduced the mandate that all cats and dogs registered for the first time, and over three months of age, must be registered and desexed. |
|
The surge in impounds in the second half of 2008 – through to 2010 is staggering. Practically twice as many cats entered the shelter as before the laws were passed.
In the current year, the number has dropped, but is still significantly higher than pre-mandatory desexing. |
|
| Yarra (City) | From 1 March 2010, Council mandated that it would not register or renew the registration of a cat unless it is desexed. |
|
The number of impounds appeared to grow after mandatory desexing was passed and is still higher than before the law was in existence. |
Mandatory desexing gets a lot of hype – largely that hype is undeserved. Whether or not the impound rate increased (usually) stayed the same (often) or dropped (very occasionally), NONE of these communities have actually stopped the killing.
Mandatory desexing is a dangerous red herring. It costs lives and it retards those programs which have the potential to reach no kill goals.
In short, it is an abject failure. And it’s time we recognised it as such.
References:
Interesting, I would not call it ‘mandatory desexing’ if what they mean is the cat must be desexed to be registered… most registered cats are desexed, its the cats that aren’t desexed that aren’t registered…. I would think mandatory desexing would mean any cats sold from pet shops/breeders or rescue must be desexed, and of course, cats that make it into the pound system must be desexed before being released, not all pounds do this apparently…