Merri-bek City Council

11/13/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/12/2025 17:02

Merri-bek City Council adopts new animal management plan and cat curfew

13 Nov 2025

Merri-bek City Council has adopted its new Domestic Animal Management Plan 2025-2029, including a cat curfew that will come into effect from 1 April 2027.

The plan sets out how Council manages cats and dogs in our neighbourhoods. It includes actions that promote responsible pet ownership, support the welfare of cats and dogs and aim to reduce nuisance behaviours.

Cat curfews aim to improve a cat's health and lifespan and reduce negative effects on wildlife and the environment. Curfews can also help address community concerns about cat noise, cats digging in gardens and trespass.

Merri-bek's cat curfew will be applied in two ways to help cats and cat owners transition to this method of cat containment. An overnight cat curfew (from 7pm to 7am) will apply to all cats that are registered before 1 April 2027. This means that any cat already registered with Council or that is registered with Council before 1 April 2027, from 1 April 2027 will need to be confined within the boundaries of their owner's property between 7pm and 7am every night.

All cats that are registered after 1 April 2027 will need to be confined to within the boundaries of their owner's property for 24 hours a day. Council will also run an education campaign to support cat owners through the transition to the curfew.

Cat owners who will be subject to the 24-hour curfew will need to keep their pets contained on their properties. This could be inside the home, within an enclosed outdoor space like a 'catio' or just within your fences. Cats may leave properties for a walk on a leash or in a carrier.

Cat curfews have been introduced in more than half of the 79 councils in Victoria, with 24-hour cat curfews in 10 of those councils. The ACT Government has also successfully introduced a 24-hour cat curfew for all cats born after 1 July 2022, with a grandfather clause for older cats.

For more information on the new cat curfew for Merri-bek, please visit Conversations Merri-bek.

Merri-bek City Council published this content on November 13, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on November 12, 2025 at 23:02 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]