Cat Management Act 2009 (Tas)

Cat Management Act 2009

An Act to provide for the control and management of cats [Royal Assent 17 December 2009]

Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:

PART 1 - Preliminary

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Cat Management Act 2009 .

2. Commencement The provisions of this Act commence on a day or days to be proclaimed.

3. Purpose The purpose of this Act is to provide for the control and management of cats and, in particular, to – (a) promote the responsible ownership and welfare of cats, including the desexing and microchipping of domestic cats; and (b) provide for the effective management of cats, in particular allowing for the humane handling and management of unidentified, stray and feral cats; and (c) reduce the negative effects of cats on the environment.

4. Interpretation In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears – approved means approved by the Secretary; authorised person means – (a) a police officer; or (b) an officer within the meaning of the Animal Welfare Act 1993 ; or (c) an authorised person within the meaning of the Dog Control Act 2000 ; or (d) a person authorised under section 5 to perform the functions and exercise the powers of an authorised person; or (e) any other prescribed person or prescribed class of persons; cat means an animal of the species Felis catus or a hybrid of that species; cat breeding permit means, in relation to a cat, a cat breeding permit that is issued under section 31 in relation to the cat and that is in force; cat management facility means – (a) a council facility that has facilities for handling and holding cats; or (b) (c) a prescribed facility; or (d) a facility operated by a person, or organisation, as prescribed; desex means to render permanently incapable of reproduction; domestic cat means a cat that a person may, on reasonable grounds, believe to be currently owned; feral cat means a cat that lives largely or entirely removed from humans in the wild and does not depend for its survival on humans intentionally providing food, water or shelter; function includes duty; general manager, in relation to a municipal area, means the general manager, appointed under the Local Government Act 1993 , of the council for the municipal area; humanely destroy means to destroy in accordance with section 28 ; individual property means – (a) if an area of land is the subject of a strata scheme within the meaning of the Strata Titles Act 1998 , a lot in the complex of lots making up the strata title scheme; or (b) a residence or building on land, that has, or is capable of having, a separate address; or (c) property that is within a prescribed class of property; or (d) in any other case, premises; microchip means the following devices that are capable of being implanted in a cat: (a) an approved electronic identification device; (b) an approved permanent identification device; (c) any other device that is approved for the purposes of this definition; microchip implanter means – (a) a prescribed person; or (b) a person holding the prescribed qualifications for a microchip implanter; or (c) a person approved as a microchip implanter; microchipped means implanted with a microchip; multiple cat permit means, in relation to a cat, a multiple cat permit that is issued under section 16B in relation to the cat and that is in force; owner, in relation to a cat, means – (a) in the case of a cat that is microchipped, the person whose name is entered in the microchip database under section 12(3) ; or (b) in the case of a cat that is not microchipped, the person who, or the owner of the business or organisation that, ordinarily keeps and cares for the cat; or (c) if the person referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) is a child under the age of 18, the child's parent or guardian; premises includes – (a) land; and (b) a building or part of a building; and (c) a structure or part of a structure; and (d) fences, walls, outbuildings and other appurtenances of a structure; private premises means premises that are not a public place; prohibited area means – (a) any area of land that is managed by a public authority, or Agency within the meaning of the State Service Act 2000 , and is reserved land; or (b) any area of private land that is reserved land; or (c) any area of land declared to be a prohibited area under section 19 ; or (d) any other area of land that is prescribed or is of a prescribed class; or (e) any part of an area of land referred to in paragraph (a) , (b) , (c) or (d) ; public authority means – (a) a council; or (b) another body corporate established by, or under, an enactment having jurisdiction limited to a district, locality or part of the State; or (c) a statutory authority; registered breeder means a person registered under section 30 ; regulations means regulations made and in force under this Act; requirement notice means a notice issued under section 38A ; reserved land means any area of land that is – (a) public reserve within the meaning of the Crown Lands Act 1976 ; or (b) private timber reserve within the meaning of the Forest Practices Act 1985 ; or (c) permanent timber production zone land within the meaning of the Forest Management Act 2013 ; or (d) reserved land within the meaning of the Nature Conservation Act 2002 ; or (e) land that is subject to a conservation covenant within the meaning of Part 5 of the Nature Conservation Act 2002 ; or (f) prescribed or is of a prescribed class; scan means to scan in a manner that enables a microchip to be detected; Secretary means the Secretary of the Department; sell includes trade, give away, take consideration for, transfer ownership of and offer for sale; statutory authority means an incorporated or unincorporated body which is established, constituted or continued by or under an Act or under the royal prerogative, being a body which, or of which the governing authority, wholly or partly comprises a person or persons appointed by the Governor, a Minister of the Crown or another statutory authority; stray cat means a cat that is not a domestic cat but lives in close proximity to humans and may receive from them some food, water or shelter and be accustomed to their presence; trap means a method of trapping an animal that complies with the Animal Welfare Act 1993 ; veterinary surgeon means a person registered as a veterinary surgeon under the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1987 ; working day means any day other than a Saturday or Sunday or a statutory holiday as defined in the Statutory Holidays Act 2000 .