Indigo cat curfew no problem for Maureen with her Beechworth cat house

Indigo Shire councillors voted unanimously on October 31 to introduce the curfew and force owners to desex their cats.

The move was welcomed by Beechworth retiree and animal lover Maureen Cooper who said her five pets - four cats and a dog - also wouldn't mind a bit.

Three years ago Mrs Cooper built a small "cat sanctuary" in her back yard that her pets can access via an enclosed tunnel connected to her house.

"They love being indoors and outdoors - here they have the best of both worlds," Mrs Cooper said. "They can get out there any time of the day or night without wandering off my property.

"They tend to spend a lot of the day out there, watching the birds which are happy to sit in the tree right next to the cat house - everyone is happy."

Mrs Cooper said the curfew and new desexing regulations would be a big step forward to protect native wildlife.

"Cats are deadly for bird life, they really do a lot of damage, so I'm very happy with that," she said.

"I planted a lot of native trees which attract a lot of birds, but the birds and cats can co-exist in the backyard with no problem - you just need to use the right gauge wire.

"I also have a bit of a problem with a neighbourhood cat who enters my property and sprays around the cat house - it stinks - this curfew might put an end to that."

Mrs Cooper said she believed there were ways to abide by the curfew without spending a fortune.

"I was just lucky enough to have these measures already in place," she said.

The council decision was made after extensive community consultation in which more than 900 submissions were received.

Speaking to the motion to introduce a 24/7 cat curfew to property boundaries in six months, and for mandatory desexing of cats as a condition for new registrations, councillor Sue Gold said the new rules were beneficial to all.

"I am very conscious of the number of pets, domestic animals, in particular cats that are euthanised not only in our shire, but across the country," Cr Gold said at Tuesday's meeting.

"It goes into the thousands per week. I think it's an extraordinary slight on our approach to domestic care and I'm very pleased that we're quite contemporary now.

"It's for consideration of the welfare, both of domestic animals and in this instance in cats, but also in protecting our environment and the broader consequences of cats that do roam and do multiply in unfavourable conditions."

Mayor Sophie Price said the curfew not only aligned with statewide trends.

"More than 94 per cent of survey respondents cited the protection of wildlife as the main reason for supporting a curfew, with 55 per cent citing the prevention of trespass and 48 per cent the protection of cats from injury, disease and becoming lost."

Cr Price said the RSPCA and Cat Protection Society of Victoria were supportive of curfews.

"Roaming cats are a serious threat to biodiversity and apart from the environmental impact, they can also cause public nuisance," she said. "There is overwhelming evidence to say that cat welfare is enhanced through containment."

The council also approved mandatory desexing of cats at three months of age, at the same time as they are microchipped and registered.

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