Southern Grampians council eyes 24-hour lock up to crack down on shire’s wandering cats

The twin issues of cats roaming day and night as well as dogs walking off lead have shaped Southern Grampians Shire Council’s new approach to animal management, with councillors unanimously adopting a strengthened four-year plan this week.

❓What happened: Councillors adopted the Domestic Animal Management Plan 2026–2029 on Tuesday night, which builds on months of community consultation. Residents had reported ongoing problems with roaming cats and uncontrolled dogs. 

• Director Rory Neeson said during the meeting that a 24-hour cat curfew was “very strongly supported by the community, as it was noted that cats are rarely or never kept inside the house during day or night”.

The council will now investigate expanding the current sunset-to-sunrise curfew to a full-day restriction as part of the next local law update, due in 2028. 

🕛 Why a 24-hour curfew? The move comes amid mounting concern about unregistered cats across the municipality.

• Figures from a June council meeting showed that of 134 cats trapped by council officers, only 18 were registered - a statistic previously described by Councillor Helen Henry as evidence of a persistent challenge for both urban and rural communities.

• Henry has previously pointed to national estimates that cats kill 3.2 million native mammals, 1.2 million birds, 1.9 million reptiles and 250,000 frogs each day, warning the impacts are especially significant given the shire’s proximity to the Grampians.

🐱 Here’s the plan: The new plan outlines a suite of actions, including investigating funding for reduced-cost desexing programs, promoting community registration and microchipping days, owner education, and continuing to provide cat traps for feral unowned cats. 

• Registration fees range from $21.50 for a pensioner’s desexed cat to $146 for a declared or restricted-breed dog.

Councillor Katrina Rainsford, a practising vet, told the meeting that indoor cats typically avoid “cat bite abscesses” and “broken legs”, arguing that keeping them inside “does actually help the health of the animals”.