A meeting of City of Perth residents and ratepayers has unanimously passed a motion calling for council laws to prohibit "killing machine" cats roaming outside amid concerns about the impact on wildlife in Kings Park.
City ratepayer Adin Lang put forward Tuesday night's motion calling for domestic cats to be contained and kept out of foreshore areas.
It also called for an investigation into ways to keep cats out of Kings Park, a 400-hectare botanic gardens and bushland reserve within the city.
"Currently there is no mechanism for keeping domestic or stray cats in the City of Perth from entering Kings Park," Mr Lang said.
"We've got bushland areas, nature reserves surrounded by suburbia and cats are going in and have free reign, we know the data says they're killing machines.
"Cats should not be allowed to leave their own properties and they certainly shouldn't be going in and feeding on our native wildlife in a biodiversity hotspot, " he told Stan Shaw on ABC Radio Perth.
Handing over power
Mr Lang is also calling on the state government to tighten cat ownership laws.
He said more power needed to be handed to local governments to enforce cat containment areas.
"Rather than giving local government powers to enforce confinement, another costly review [of the Cat Act] is scheduled for 2024 which means any meaningful change won't happen until the end of the decade," he said.
A state government spokesperson said the next review of Western Australia's Cat Act was scheduled in 2024 and statutory review had been completed in 2019.
"The Cat Act currently provides local governments with a range of powers to manage cats within their district," the spokesperson said.
"Local governments across Western Australia effectively manage cats utilising the existing provisions of the Cat Act."
Action needed
Mr Lang said it would be detrimental to wildlife to wait for the planned review.
"In the meantime, pet cats are killing 390 million animals each year; our endangered wildlife need help now," he said.
"Future generations will look back and say 'You used to let cats roams around killing our beautiful wildlife'.
"We need the state government to amend the Cat Act so local governments can enforce containment and protect our wildlife."
Reigning in irresponsible owners
Metropolitan councils including Mandurah, Fremantle, Bayswater and Kwinana have implemented cat prohibited areas in recent years due to environmental concerns.
The City of Fremantle banned cats in local parks and bushland areas and last year tried to extend the restrictions to all paths, streets and verges.
But the motion was rejected by the Joint Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation because it was "inconsistent" with current cat regulations.
"The problem is we're still finding that cats are going into these prohibited areas, we're still catching them in our traps," Mr Lang, who is also a Fremantle city councillor, said.
"And the sad thing is also that we ring the owners and say we've got your cat and owners are saying, 'You can keep it'.
"That's the reality of what's going on at the moment in Perth."
Kings Park 'alert but not alarmed'
Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority executive director Alan Barrett said Kings Park management was "alert but not alarmed" by the impact of cats on wildlife in the park.
"Biodiversity conservation staff undertake regular monitoring of animal movements in our parks and is well aware of the environmental impact of feral animals, including cats," he said.
"The authority supports responsible cat ownership and appropriate regulation to minimise impacts on native fauna."
Mr Barrett said about one cat was recorded in Kings Park per year and there were no "obvious impacts" from cats.
Wildlife carnage
Dr Bruce Webber from the National Pet Cat Taskforce and the WA Feral Cat Working Group said even one cat could be "devastating" for wildlife populations.
He referred to a 2019 incident when a single cat wiped out a colony of fairy terns in Mandurah during breeding season.
"They had over 100 nests there; a single pre-owned cat devastated that colony in a matter of days," he said.
"Right across Australia, we're aware that pet cats alone will kill about 390 million animals every single year.
"And when you work that out to about the 3.8 million pet cats that are owned in Australia, that comes to a little bit less than 200 reptiles, birds and mammals that are eaten by one pet cat every single year."
Dr Webber said containing pet cats was a "no brainer".
"It's not only better for wildlife, in the surrounding environment in urban environments, it's also better for the pet cats themselves," he said.
Dr Webber said pet cats that were constantly contained lived much longer lives, and were at less risk of being hit by a car, bitten by a snake or catching diseases.
"There is still a lack of awareness about how cats impact wildlife in urban areas; a common viewpoint we get is, 'Well my cat doesn't hunt'," he said.
"All cats that are allowed outside will hunt, even if they're well fed.
"Cats only bring back 15 per cent of the animals they kill to the house, so you may not see all the animals that your pet cat is hunting."
Federal support
Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has previously stated she supported local government efforts to contain domestic cats.
"I think most people who own a domestic cat are really responsible," she said.
"They keep their cat indoors."
She said it was important people kept their cats indoors and had them desexed so they didn't contribute to the wild cat population.
"Feral cats are one of the worst predators for Australian native animals, they threaten the survival of about 120 nationally-listed threatened species."
