Knox Council needs to be more considerate of the well-being and basic rights of older cats who will be affected by the 24hr lockdown of cats that will come into effect on 1st October 2021, tearing away basic freedoms they've grown accustomed to.

The council also failed to properly consult the community this law change is affecting. The statistics can be found at the bottom of this spiel.

This petition proposes the gradual phasing in of this curfew, if it must happen, where it only applies to newly registered kittens which is a more logical and compassionate way of introducing this rule, as opposed to the current plans to have it apply as a blanket rule for all cats regardless of age or habits.

Cats that are 10+ years old that have been allowed outside during the day their whole life will suffer because of this knee jerk of a rule introduction and it will cause stress and anxiety which will result in mental health issues for cats and their owners, increasing vet bills and causing depression in a time where mental health is most important.

Just introduce the law for newly registered kittens and their owners who can have the foresight & plan for the infrastructure required to keep the kitten they "choose" to keep under the new rules, and leave the older cats and their owners alone.

The lack of foresight is just plain cruel and there is no data to suggest that it will be beneficial for the local wildlife. Possums & foxes do more damage to wildlife than cats. Well fed and well looked after cats do not even bother the local wildlife and the ones that do, tend to be nocturnal hunters which renders a daytime curfew moot. Knox is a high density suburban area where people and cars are just as dangerous if not more so.

There's been enough change, financial pressure and disruptions in life thanks to covid but surely our pets shouldn't have to suffer too.

They're literally trying to make us herd cats. That's a popular expression for a very good reason..

Cat owners are predominantly responsible pet owners, contrary to what a lot of people who seem to have an illogical, unfounded & disproportionate hatred of cats claim. This is hard when the goal posts get moved on us.

Let cats alive today continue to live their lives like they always have. Impose restrictions for newly registered kittens that are still young enough to be conditioned.

Thanks for this Glenyce:

Last year, Knox trialled a curfew requiring cats to be confined between sunset and sunrise. Throughout the trial, feedback was sought from the community and again more than 86% of respondents supported a curfew, with greater preference for a 24-hour curfew over a night-time curfew. Almost half of the more than 720 respondents were cat owners.

Let’s extrapolate those numbers:
* In 2020 Knox had 165,147 residents
* 720 surveyed - That’s less than 0.44% of residents
* Almost half of those were cat owners - That’s less than .022% of total residents
* Only 5.5% of 6,500 registered cat owners consulted
* 86% of the 720 surveyed supported the 24 hour curfew- That’s 619 who supported the curfew - a mere 0.38% of residents

The council is already actively advertising cat traps #inhumane

The numbers clearly evidence that the Council have pushed this through by stealth and indeed have not adequately consulted the residents.
Knox City Council this needs to be halted until the residents get to debate this.

Knox Advocats