Clarence City Council is committed to improving the management and control of pets at home and in public spaces. Owning a pet has many benefits, including an improved sense of wellbeing, safety and social connectedness. However, not everyone shares the same views about pets. Council is seeking feedback on pets and public spaces to ensure we understand and meet the broad and diverse needs of the Clarence community.

We are seeking to understand perceptions of cats in Clarence from residents of all ages. We are wanting to understand cat ownership, experiences with cats and how cats are best managed in Clarence.

Some of the following topics are common inclusions in other council’s cat policies and management frameworks and will be covered as part of the survey and workshop:

registration for pet cats
cat curfews (inside between dusk and dawn)
cat confinement to reduce roaming (indoor and cat enclosures)
microchipping and desexing
ensuring cats wear identification (collar with tag)
limit on number of cats per household (addressing cat hoarding)
declaration of cat prohibited areas to protect wildlife (in conservation areas, reserves and sensitive wildlife areas)
localised cat control strategies tailored to specific issues
feral cat management

We expect this topic to be of interest to many and we are looking forward to hearing what you think!