A suburb of Canberra Australia is a cat containment area. The Threatened Species Commissioner of Australia declared on Facebook that Lawson in Canberra will be a 24-hour cat containment area. The Commissioner, Dr Sally Box, states that there is a growing momentum in the capital of Australia towards what she describes as “best practice responsible pet ownership”.

Suburb of Canberra Australia Is a Cat Containment Area

In other words, the government wants to ensure that all domestic cat owners keep their cats confined to their properties. I suspect that the idea is to start the concept of cat confinement areas in a suburb of the capital of Australia and grow the idea from there.

You can see the large sign outside Lawson declaring that it is a cat containment area. There is apparently a community spirit and commitment to responsible pet ownership in Australia according to the Commissioner. She states that it is everybody’s business to keep cats indoors to protect native species and the keep cats healthy and happy.

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that I have encountered an ordinance (regulation of law) which specifies an entire suburb as a place where cats must be confined to their owner’s property.

You can see how it is going to go. You can look into the future. There has been a long campaign by the Australian government to minimise the impact of roaming domestic cats and feral cats on native Australian wildlife. I feel sure that this concept is a part of that program.

Americans can look to Australia to lead the way on measures to regulate cat ownership to protect wildlife.

I am not hostile to it to be honest. I have developed a attitude towards cat ownership which is very different to the way it was 20 years ago. My cat is confined (90% of UK citizens will disagree with this!). However, it is a very pleasant confinement. A nice garden and home. He is safe and he can be involved in nature. He can even catch the odd prey item in the garden although I have taken them off him to avoid him acquiring worms. He is in great health. Another advantage of cat confinement.