How cat laws are being rolled out in WA

We’re just two months away from the full implementation of the WA Cat Act, which will be rolled out across the state from 1st November 2013.

The law will require cats six months and older to be desexed, microchipped, wear a collar and registration tag, and to be registered with the local council they are kept in. The fines for breaching any of these terms is $5,000 – an extraordinary sum by any measure.

The WA Ranger Association are preparing their members, by issuing the following circular to councils. First, they outlined that there are, according to them, only two kinds of cats. Cats who are complying with the laws and cats who need to be impounded (bolding mine);

Feral Cats
A feral cat is defined as a cat which does not have significant contact with humans and does not have human socialisation. It does not include stray or abandoned cats. Feral cat control programs are carried out where known populations of feral cats are impacting on surrounding human populations, or are impacting on wildlife. The purpose of trapping is to euthanase the animals, and trapping may be done by Local Government Rangers, State Government employees or contractors.

Domestic cats
Domestic cats are defined as those which live within a household. Aligned to this category are community cats who are not owned by a single person, but are fed by a number of people in a particular area. With the introduction of the Cat Act 2011 there is a requirement for all cats to be microchipped, registered with Local Government and sterilised unless they belong to a registered breeder. Local Government Rangers will be responsible for capturing domestic cats in public areas or on a person’s property without consent. The purpose of trapping is to identify the owner of the cat if possible, and if not possible to rehome or euthanase the cat.

Killing methods for a trapped cat deemed by the officer to be ‘feral’ may include;
– captive bolt
– lethal injection ie overdose of a recognised anaesthetic or analgesic agent (eg Lethabarb)
– CO2
– And can be done by firearm;

The only other humane form of euthanasia in the field… is the use of firearms by killing the cat with a single shot to the head. The operator must meet the requirements set by WAPOL and the Firearm Act and have permission to shoot in the area. All people present should be moved away from the trap. The operator should wait until the cat is motionless, and the range for a firearm should be 5-20cm from the head before a shot is fired.

However, given most local governments do not have the resources or budget to trap cats, most will be engaging the community’s cat haters to implement the laws, since the ongoing enforcement of them is set to be very, very expensive.

At the last meeting this was discussed as Local Governments do not have the resources or budget to trap cats, most local governments will be probably trapping on LG land, but will be hiring traps out to members of the public.

And you think that’s the worst of it?

And while rangers are working hard to set parameters to the killing, the major cat welfare group in the state, The Cat Haven, is also working to remove protections for cats;

Chip Day: As of the 1st of November all cats have to be micro chipped in WA or they shall be classified by local government groups and animal groups as un-owned. At the moment cats that come to Cat Haven without a chip are kept for 3 full days before considered un-owned (to give people a chance to reclaim their cat) but this will change to comply with the new Cat Laws… They won’t be kept by any organisation an unchipped cat will be considered an unowned cat and owner will face a large fine from the authorities also if they are found to have an unchipped cat… Cat Haven Facebook page

How can that be? How can there be no protection for impounded cats, keeping them from being killed on entry to shelters in the state?

The devil is in the detail.

When the Cat Act was passed, it included the provision for a 3 day holding period for unidentified cats, 7 days for cats with ID.

However,

Despite subsection (1), the operator of a cat management facility may cause any cat kept at the facility to be destroyed in a humane manner immediately —
(a) if the operator believes on reasonable grounds that the
cat —
(i) is feral, diseased or dangerous; and
(ii) has caused or given, or is likely to cause or give, serious injury, or serious illness, to a person, another animal or itself; or
(b) in the circumstances, if any, prescribed

These cats also don’t need to be scanned for a microchip. So the ability to kill cats without identifying owners is almost unaccountably broad.

The Cat Haven has now backed down from the assertion that they will change their impound procedures – stating that healthy cats will not be in danger, but will be made available for adoption.

However, with so many responsible for implementing these laws ready to jump in to killing with both feet, how safe are our cats really?