The main purpose of a cat curfew is to protect native wildlife. But most cat owners impose one anyway, even in the absence of a mandatory curfew, out of a concern for their cat or cats. A roaming cat is not only a potential wildlife killer, it is also vulnerable to disease, being run over, stolen, attacked by a dog or running away.
Most comparable green wedge Councils have a 24 hour curfew. The fact that Nillumbik is a laggard in this respect is a consequence of the way local democracy sometimes works. The previous elected Council, when presented by Council officers with a draft Domestic Animal Management Plan, or DAMP, which did not propose a 24 hour curfew, but contented itself with recommending that the current curfew regime be subject to a review, voted to approve a motion saying that there should NOT even be a review. Two councillors, Perkins and Egan, spoke for three minutes each in support of the motion, and on that basis four other councillors joined them in voting against a review. Councillor Ramcharan was the only voice for wildlife. “In the green wedge shire, if we can’t take this step to support our wildlife then what hope do we have?”, he said.
Shire Councillors are not provided with support staff, and their opportunities to explore the issues underlying proposed policies with Council staff are limited by protocol and their own time constraints: they are after all working for the community part-time. This creates the potential for unsound decision-making, where considered policy proposals may be subject to radical change based on a vote on an issue with which a majority of Councillors have had no opportunity to become familiar. Democracy is a valuable thing, but not when personal opinions override proper and expert consideration.
Cats, whether feral or domestic, are an introduced predator, so they upset the natural balance. There are a total of 3.8 million pet cats in Australia, of which 1.1 million are indoor cats, leaving 2.7 million free to roam. Roaming pet cats kill 390 million animals per year in Australia, including reptiles, birds and mammals. That’s an average of 186 animals, mostly native species, per roaming domestic cat each year. Statistics from Sydney University.
Four years later, a new Nillumbik Council is about to be presented with a new draft DAMP, which sees Nillumbik catching up, joining most other green wedge Councils in recommending the 24 hour curfew.
The Council’s community participation project conducted to elicit feedback about the draft DAMP resulted in 707 submissions from the Shire, so less than 4% of all households. And note that there are said to be over 15,000 pets and dogs in Nillumbik, so responses came from a similarly small proportion of pet owners. The responses on a variety of issues may well have been useful to the Council in assessing the draft, but this was certainly not a survey capable of generating a statistically significant result on any issue – and certainly not on the issue of a cat curfew, which is possibly of greater concern to non-pet owners.
This decision in particular is one which should look at the larger context and consider the greater good. This is the challenge for Councillors, a challenge not met four years ago. The updated Domestic Animals Managememt Plan is due to be endorsed at the Planning and Consultation Committee meeting on May 13. We encourage you to contact your local councillor before then to register your strong support for the cat curfew. Councillor emails are below the map, phone numbers are on the Council website.
| Ward | Councillor | |
| Wingrove | John Dumaresq (Mayor) | john.dumaresq@nillumbik.vic.gov.au |
| Bunjil | Naomi Joiner (Deputy) | naomi.joiner@nillumbik.vic.gov.au |
| Blue Lake | Grant Brooker | grant.brooker@nillumbik.vic.gov.au |
| Edendale | Kelly Joy | kelly.joy@nillumbik.vic.gov.au |
| Ellis | Peter Perkins | peter.perkins@nillumbik.vic.gov.au |
| Sugarloaf | Kim Cope | kim.cope@nillumbik.vic.gov.au |
| Swipers Gully | Kate McKay | kate.mckay@nillumbik.vic.gov.au |