Cape Town is home to countless animals who share our homes, farms, streets and natural spaces. They are not simply property. They are living, feeling beings who experience pain, fear, comfort, attachment and joy. They have one life, just as we do, and that should mean something.

The 2026 Draft Animal Keeping By-law aims to regulate animal ownership and welfare, and I support responsible ownership, sterilisation, microchipping, veterinary care, preventing cruelty and neglect, and strong action against genuine abuse and dangerous situations.

I am deeply concerned that the proposed By-law places too much emphasis on permits, fees, bureaucracy, restrictions and punitive enforcement, without enough consideration for the people who are already caring for animals responsibly, or what happens to the animals when those requirements become unaffordable. Increasing costs and requirements could make responsible ownership and rescuing increasingly difficult.

A law intended to protect animals should not make it harder for people to care for them. 

Sterilisation and microchipping are important, but mandatory requirements must be accompanied by accessible and affordable services. Rescuers, low-income owners and people who take in abandoned animals should be supported, not financially punished.

The By-law should also recognise the different realities of smallholdings and responsible homesteads, distinguish genuine nuisance and danger from normal animal behaviour, and provide stronger safeguards before animals are seized, forfeited or euthanised. An animal is not something that can simply be disposed of.

Our responsibility should extend to wildlife too. Humans have dramatically altered natural habitats, and while irresponsible interference should be prevented, compassion and responsible assistance to wildlife in genuine need should have a place in our laws.

This petition is not against regulation. It is against regulation that forgets who the rules are supposed to protect.

Animals cannot attend public meetings. They cannot submit objections. They cannot tell the City that they are loved, that they have a home, or that being separated from the people they trust will cause them distress.

We have to speak for them.

We are asking the City of Cape Town to reconsider the Draft By-law and create a system that is practical, affordable, proportionate and genuinely centred on animal welfare.

Please sign and help put animal welfare at the heart of Cape Town's 2026 Animal Keeping By-law.