Amendments to the Cat Management Act
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Important amendments to the Cat Management Act 2009 come into effect today (1 March 2022) These amendments will further support and enable responsible cat ownership in Tasmania.
Amendments to the Act include:
- Cats over the age of four months must be microchipped and desexed (exceptions apply).
- A person must not keep more than four cats over the age of four months on an individual property (exceptions apply).
- Anyone wishing to breed a cat must be a registered breeder or hold a conditional permit to breed a cat. The State Government will no longer be accepting applications for cat breeder registrations. A person will need to be a member of an approved cat organisation to be recognised as a registered cat breeder.
- A person selling a cat will no longer have the option to enter into a Care Agreement on the sale of the cat. Any cat that is to be sold or given away must be over eight weeks old, desexed, microchipped, vaccinated, treated for all internal and external parasites, and must have passed a health check from a veterinarian, prior to sale.
The amendments deliver on recommendations for legislative change identified in the Tasmanian Cat Management Plan 2017-2022, which is Tasmania’s first comprehensive plan addressing management of domestic, stray, and feral cats.
The amendments are the result of extensive consultation with industry, local government, animal welfare groups, environmental and agriculture stakeholders through the Tasmanian Cat Management Reference Group, and public feedback directly on the amendments and other processes.