Cats
What's new
- Cats born after 1 January 2025 will need to be confined to the property where they're kept at all times i.e. 24/7.
- Confinement means the owner or person responsible for the control of a cat must take steps to ensure that the cat is confined at all times to the premises occupied by that person.
- Cats born before 1 January 2025 must be confined or under effective control during 8pm and 7am in keeping with the existing curfew which was introduced in 2020.
Cats are a popular choice of companion pet for many people in our district and we support responsible pet ownership.
Since 2018 all cat owners in South Australia are required to microchip and desex their cats.
Microchipping makes it easier to reunite lost cats with their owners.
Desexing prevents unwanted litters and also has welfare benefits for the desexed animal including reduced aggression and scent marking behaviours.
Council also established By-law No.6 - Cats, which came into effect in January 2020, to help reduce the impact that cats have on our native wildlife.
Rules in the by-law include compulsory registration, cats can't cause a nuisance, a limit on the number of cats that can be kept on a property and a cat curfew.
By enforcing these rules, we're playing an active role in helping reduce:
- feral cat populations;
- harm to wildlife; and
- disease transmission.
By-law No.6 - Cats was reviewed in 2024 to help control and manage cats in Mount Barker district.
The community was consulted as part of the review before the by-law was endorsed by Council.
The revised by-law came into effect in January 2025.
Key changes include:
- Cats born after 1 January 2025 need to be effectively confined to the property where they are kept at all time i.e. 24/7.
- Confinement means cats must be contained to the property where they live. This can be achieved in many ways including:
- keeping your cat indoors;
- in a secure outdoor cat enclosure i.e. 'catio';
- or by any other means which ensures your cats are unable to leave your property.
- Cats born before 1 January 2025 must be contained to your property during 8pm and 7am in keeping with the existing curfew.
- A cat must not cause a nuisance regardless of when it was born.
For more information about selecting a suitable cat as a pet, fact sheets, desexing and microchipping visit the Dog and Cat Board website.
To search for lost and found animals, the Dogs and Cats Online system is a database of dogs and cats that reside in South Australia https://www.dogsandcatsonline.com.au
