Draft cat plan for ACT

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The ACT Government has developed a Draft ACT Cat Plan, seeking to manage cats for the health, welfare and safety of both cats and native wildlife. The release of the plan coincides with the Molonglo Valley suburb of Whitlam being declared a cat containment area.

“We are expanding cat containment to Whitlam particularly because it is close to the Kama Nature Reserve and Lower Molonglo Reserve, a habitat for native wildlife including the rare pink-tailed worm lizard,” said City Services Minister Chris Steel.

Cat containment means keeping domestic cats either inside the house, or in an area where they can’t leave the premises.

“The good news is that keeping cats contained is not only good for wildlife, it also has benefits for your cat; uncontained cats are four times more likely than contained cats to suffer significant injures at least once a year,” says Helen Oakey, executive director at the Conservation Council ACT Region.

“The Draft ACT Cat Plan discusses options to expand cat containment in the ACT, such as gradually adding cat containment suburbs, putting in place requirements for new pet cats to be contained or simply declaring all suburbs cat containment.

“The Conservation Council supports the whole of the ACT becoming a cat containment area by 2025.”

To view the draft plan and submit feedback, visit yoursay.act.gov.au

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