South West shire swipes back calls from State Government body to amend local cat laws

A South West shire has swiped back calls from a State Government body to amend its local cat laws. The Shire of Dardanup council voted against amending its 2023 local cat laws after receiving a request from the Joint Standing Committee on Delegated Legislation. The JSCDL said it had issues with two parts of the local law: the shire’s definition of effective control and a clause about the presence of cats in other places. The vote to adopt the amendments failed 1-8, with only shire president Tyrrell Gardiner voting in support. Cr Gardiner said it was a new situation for the council to be in as he was not aware of any previous local law amendments being rejected by the council. He said it was not known if the shire would have to keep its older cat laws until the process was resolved, but was apprehensive as the older laws no longer fit where the shire wanted to be. The shire was not given a reason behind the JSCDL’s desired amendments and the council’s decision to reject would have to be reviewed by the organisation before moving forward, Cr Gardiner said. He said it would be likely the shire would still work with the JSCDL to meet compliance and he would have to see where that decision went. Cr Gardiner said the shire had not yet prosecuted any breaches of the law since its introduction in 2023, but having it in place meant the shire was able to take action if needed. He said the definitions outlined in the cat law were first introduced in local dog laws and there should be the same rules for cats as for dogs. “I’m an animal lover with cats and dogs,” he said. “So what’s the thinking that they get ruled differently?”