To the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Victoria

We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Victoria to call on the Victorian Government to introduce statewide legislation to prevent unwanted cat breeding, reduce the number of stray and abandoned cats, protect native wildlife and end the reliance on volunteer rescuers, shelters and taxpayers to continually manage a problem that is preventable.

 

Victoria is facing a persistent and growing cat population management problem.

 

The Victorian Government estimates that Victoria has approximately 914,000 pet cats, while only around 227,000 are registered. The desexing status of an estimated 680,000 unregistered pet cats is unknown. The Government itself identifies cat overpopulation as a significant challenge for councils, shelters, community foster networks and rescue groups.

 

Cats can begin breeding from approximately four months of age and can produce multiple litters each year. Without effective statewide intervention, a small number of undesexed cats can rapidly contribute to an unsustainable population.

 

The consequences are being carried by everyone except the people who create the problem.

 

Every year, thousands of unwanted, stray, abandoned, surrendered and feral cats require intervention. Rescue organisations, foster carers, volunteers and members of the public are spending enormous amounts of their own money, time and resources trapping, desexing, treating, rehabilitating, fostering and rehoming cats that should never have needed rescuing in the first place.

 

The cost is not simply financial.

 

It is veterinary bills, emergency treatment, overcrowded shelters, exhausted foster carers, volunteer burnout, emotional distress and the heartbreaking reality that there are more cats needing help than the community has the capacity to save.

It is also a wildlife issue. Victoria recognises feral cats as an established pest animal on specified Crown land, and the Victorian Government identifies feral cats as one of the significant threats to native wildlife. At least 43 Victorian threatened species are identified as being threatened by feral cat predation. But let’s not forget that humans are the biggest contributor to threatened species decline and we are also the reason for non domesticated cats.

 

Killing cats after populations have become unmanageable is not a humane or viable population management strategy.

 

Euthanasia should not be treated as the solution to an ongoing cycle of preventable breeding, abandonment and population growth.

 

Removing cats from the population without addressing why more cats continue to enter it is comparable to repeatedly treating the consequences of an injury while refusing to address the cause.

 

Victoria already recognises that desexing and containment are effective tools.

 

However, the current system leaves these protections largely dependent on local council decisions. Some Victorian councils require cats to be desexed, some impose cat curfews and others have different requirements.

 

A cat’s postcode should not determine whether it is required to be desexed or safely contained.

 

We therefore call on the Victorian Government to introduce a statewide, consistent cat management framework that:

 

1. Prohibits the breeding of domestic cats in Victoria

Introduce a statewide prohibition on intentionally breeding cats, including breeding for sale, profit, personal use or accidental litters resulting from knowingly keeping fertile cats.

The prohibition should apply to private owners, recreational breeders, microbreeders and commercial breeding operations.

Limited exemptions should apply only where breeding is demonstrably necessary for an approved scientific, veterinary or conservation purpose, cannot reasonably be achieved through an existing non breeding alternative, and has been specifically authorised by the relevant government authority and an appropriate animal ethics committee. No exemption should apply for commercial, recreational, showing, pedigree, breed preservation or personal purposes.

 

2. Requires all domestic cats to be desexed

Require all domestic cats to be desexed by an appropriate age, with the legislation considering a deadline aligned with feline sexual maturity, such as four months of age.

Reasonable veterinary exemptions should apply where a registered veterinarian determines that desexing would be unsafe or medically inappropriate.

A veterinary exemption may only be granted where a registered veterinarian, acting in their professional capacity, determines that desexing would present a significant and demonstrable risk to the cat’s health or welfare, or that the procedure is medically contraindicated. The veterinarian must provide written certification specifying the clinical grounds for the exemption and whether it is temporary or permanent. Temporary exemptions must be reviewed when clinically appropriate.

 

3. Prevents breeding restrictions from simply being bypassed through acquisition elsewhere

Cats brought into Victoria should be subject to the same desexing and registration requirements, subject to appropriate veterinary exemptions and transitional arrangements.

The purpose is not to prevent Victorians from owning a particular breed.

If someone wishes to own a particular breed, they should be able to acquire an appropriately desexed animal through lawful channels, including from interstate, without creating additional breeding demand within Victoria.

 

4. Introduces statewide mandatory containment

Require all domestic cats to be contained within their owner’s property unless they are under effective control.

Acceptable forms of outdoor access should include secure cat enclosures, cat proof fencing and other escape proof arrangements.

Cats should also be permitted outside their property when appropriately controlled, including in purpose built carriers, strollers, backpacks, harnesses or on leads where safe and appropriate.

This would provide consistency across Victoria while still allowing cats enrichment, exercise and outdoor experiences.

 

5. Introduces meaningful accountability for irresponsible breeding and abandonment

Penalties should be proportionate to the harm caused and should escalate where a person repeatedly breeds, abandons, surrenders or allows cats to reproduce in circumstances that could reasonably have been prevented.

A fine alone does not necessarily address the actual cost imposed on the community.

Where a person’s deliberate or negligent actions result in kittens or cats requiring rescue intervention, veterinary treatment, rehabilitation or rehoming, the Government should investigate a cost recovery or restitution mechanism that allows reasonable, documented rescue and veterinary expenses to be recovered from responsible offenders where legally appropriate.

 

6. Redirects resources towards prevention

A proportion of registration revenue, enforcement revenue and relevant government funding should be directed towards:

• subsidised desexing

• low cost veterinary services

• community cat containment programs

• support for vulnerable pet owners

• trapping and desexing programs for semi owned cats

• rescue and foster capacity

• public education

• enforcement and identification

• research and statewide cat population monitoring

 

7. Establishes a statewide rather than postcode based system

Victoria should develop one clear statewide standard for responsible cat ownership.

Councils should retain the ability to implement additional protections where required, particularly around environmentally sensitive areas, but the minimum standard should apply consistently across every Victorian municipality.

 

Why action is needed now

Victoria’s own Cat Management Strategy recognises that cat overpopulation places significant pressure on councils, shelters, foster networks and rescue organisations.

The Government also acknowledges that desexing reduces unwanted cats, strays and shelter populations.

At the same time, Victoria currently permits certain microbreeders to breed cats without registering as a domestic animal business, and recreational breeders can also operate under exemptions from some regulatory requirements.

This means Victoria continues to allow new cats to be deliberately produced while existing cats remain without homes and rescue organisations struggle to accommodate those already in existence.

That is not a sustainable system.

The people paying the price are the cats themselves, native wildlife, rescue organisations, veterinary services, volunteers and ultimately the Victorian taxpaying community.

We are not calling for cats to be punished for irresponsible human decisions.

We are calling for the opposite.

We are calling for legislation that prevents cats from being born into a system that does not have the capacity to care for them.

Every unwanted litter creates consequences that somebody must eventually carry.

If a kitten is abandoned, somebody has to find it.

If it is sick, somebody has to pay the veterinary bill.

If it is injured, somebody has to provide emergency care.

If it is reactive and unsocialised, somebody has to trap, care and rehabilitate them.

If it survives and reproduces, the cycle begins again.

At present, that responsibility is disproportionately being carried by people who did not create the problem: volunteers, rescuers, foster carers, shelters, veterinarians, wildlife carers and ordinary members of the public.

Victoria needs to move from managing the consequences of cat overpopulation to preventing unnecessary population growth in the first place.

We therefore petition the Victorian Government to undertake legislative reform to establish a statewide no intentional breeding, mandatory desexing and mandatory containment framework for domestic cats, supported by accessible desexing services, appropriate exemptions, education, enforcement and meaningful accountability.

 

The goal is simple:

 

Fewer unwanted kittens.

 

Fewer abandoned cats.

 

Fewer cats entering shelters.

 

Less pressure on rescues and volunteers.

 

Less suffering.

 

Less pressure on wildlife.

 

Less taxpayer and community expenditure on an entirely preventable cycle.

 

And a better future for the cats already here.