Is it illegal for cats to roam qld?

‘Qld’ is a shortened version of Queensland, Australia. So the question is, it illegal for cats to roam in the state of Queensland, Australia? This state covers the top right hand corner of the Australian continent (northeastern Australia).

Queensland Gold Coast. Photo: MantraHotels.com

It is not illegal for cats to roam in Queensland as far as I can tell [see the Queensland government page which confirms this]. But, and this is a big but, there are (on my reckoning) more than 80 councils in Queensland and many of them may have a local law which make it obligatory for cat owners to keep their cats inside at all times.

There is an article from 24 March 2017 on the Sunshine Coast Daily website which states in very clear language that the residents of the Sunshine Coast are subject to restrictions to keep their cats inside the home and the law is being flouted. Fines to the value of AU$43,000 have been handed out to cat owners who have flouted the rules.

That website also makes it clear that the same restrictive laws apply in many of the other local Queensland councils. Also, some councils in Australia allow roaming cats during the daytime while others enforce a night-time curfew.

There is, therefore, no simple answer to the question in the title. You’ll have to contact your local authority and asked the question. Or go to their website and try and find the answer there.

P.S. I could have done this myself but I feel that the best thing to do is to telephone the council because you can’t 100% percent rely on internet research. You want the information from the ‘horse’s mouth’ and that means talking to someone in authority at the authority. Potentially a cat’s life is at stake if you get it wrong.

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