Have your say on the future of Cat Ownership in WA

The WA Government is currently reviewing the Cat Act, and this is your opportunity to help shape the future of cat welfare and responsible pet ownership across our state.

As an organisation that cares for more than 8,500+ cats and kittens every year, Cat Haven has seen first hand where the current legislation works and where improvements could be made.

We will be making a submission and encourage all cat lovers to do the same!

You don't need to be an expert to participate. Simply share your thoughts and experiences as a cat owner, adopter, volunteer or animal lover. Every submission helps demonstrate that the community cares about the wellbeing of cats in Western Australia.

To help get you started, we've put together some of the key points Cat Haven supports. Feel free to use these ideas, expand on them, or tell the Government what matters most to you.

Have Your Say HERE

Question 2 - Should registration, microchipping and identification requirements change? If yes, how?

Our opinion:

  • Microchip age lowered to 3 months old
  • Educate pet owners on keeping their microchip details up to date and accessible to shelters, rescue groups and local councils.
  • Redesign registration tags so they are smaller and lighter for cats to wear comfortably.
  • All cats to have a left ear tattoo at time of desexing to easily identify desexed cats

Question 3 - Should sterilisation requirements change? If yes, how?

Our opinion:

  • Lower the mandatory desexing age from 6 months to 3 months.
  • Cats can become pregnant much younger than many people realise, often before 6 months of age.
  • Cat Haven regularly sees young kittens arriving pregnant or with kittens of their own. Recently, a 4 month old kitten, still with her baby teeth, arrived at Cat Haven already pregnant.
  • Earlier desexing would help prevent unwanted litters and reduce the number of cats entering shelters and rescues.
  • Reducing accidental litters would improve cat welfare and help address cat overpopulation in WA.

Question 4 - Should breeding approval requirements change? If yes, how?

Our opinion:

  • All breeders should be regularly inspected to ensure they meet the Five Domains of animal welfare
  • Breeding cats should be kept in environments that promote good physical and mental wellbeing, not confined to small cages for long periods.
  • Prospective buyers should be able to meet the parent cats when purchasing a kitten to ensure they are healthy, socialised and living in suitable conditions.
  • Greater transparency would help improve breeding standards and allow buyers to make informed decisions.
  • The WA Government should invest in public education campaigns promoting adoption as the first choice for people looking to add a cat to their family.
  • With thousands of cats and kittens entering shelters and rescues each year, adoption provides loving homes for cats already in need.
  • Any breeding regulations should recognise the ongoing cat overpopulation issue and support efforts to reduce the number of unwanted cats.
  • Look at illegal breeding and back yard breeders as was done with the puppy farming bill

Question 5 - How can compliance and enforcement of the Cat Act be improved?

Our opinion:

  • The State Government must provide adequate funding to local governments and enforcement agencies to ensure Cat Act requirements can be properly monitored and enforced.
  • The responsibility for managing cat overpopulation should not fall primarily on shelters and rescue organisations
  • Greater government investment is needed to support desexing programs and the management of stray and semi owned cats.
  • Stronger enforcement of registration, microchipping and desexing requirements would improve compliance and reduce the number of unwanted litters.
  • Cat ownership limits should be consistent across Western Australia rather than varying between local government areas.
  • Introduce a consistent statewide cat ownership limit, allowing responsible households to keep up to six cats, while avoiding restrictive limits of fewer than four cats.
  • Households wishing to keep more than the standard limit could apply for approval where appropriate welfare standards can be demonstrated.

Question 6 - What other changes would you like to see made to the Cat Act?

Our opinion:

  • The WA Government should provide greater support, including increased funding, for organisations that play a critical role in managing cat welfare and overpopulation, such as Cat Haven, which is Western Australia's only open-admission cat shelter, and accepts cats regardless of age, health, behaviour or circumstance, helping more than 8,500 cats and kittens each year.
  • Despite the significant role it plays in supporting cat welfare across the state, only a very small proportion (1.7%) of Cat Haven's operating costs are funded by the State Government.
  • The WA Government needs to invest in ongoing public education campaigns about responsible cat ownership.
  • Education should focus on the benefits of desexing, microchipping, registration, keeping contact details up to date and cat containment.
  • Clear, consistent messaging would help improve compliance with the Cat Act and encourage responsible pet ownership.
  • By educating owners about what is best for their cats, the Government can achieve better welfare outcomes and reduce the number of cats entering shelters each year

Question 7 - Are there any successful initiatives from other Australian jurisdictions that Western Australia should consider?

Our opinion:

  • The NSW government invested in a concerted desexing campaign over several years involving a number of animal welfare agencies. Efforts were concentrated in suburbs with known uncontrolled cat breeding with very pleasing results.