Responsible cat ownership and whether keeping bees and roosters in town should be allowed are some of the issues the Waitaki District Council could tackle in a bylaw review under way.
Policy and communication manager Mike Roesler said the general bylaw review began informally this winter, but the "conversation starter" was expected to "get more formal" next year and the council wanted guidance from the public.
"Since our last review 10 years ago, new issues have come up and new questions need to be answered. For example, should people be allowed to have roosters in urban areas? The bylaw has rules for dealing with ‘nuisance’ and ‘noise’ issues caused when people keep birds, but should we consider prohibiting roosters in urban areas? And what about cats? We don’t have any rules for responsible cat ownership. Should we have similar rules as we do for dogs?"
He said while the current bylaw banned keeping bees in urban areas, it had become evident hobby beekeeping was becoming increasingly popular.
During the recent election campaign, Cr Hugh Perkins raised registering cats as an issue.
On Tuesday, he said he was interested in animal welfare and reducing "the number of cats that are being casually bred and casually given away — and then don’t find good homes".
Though addressing cat ownership in the general bylaw would "be a start", he was not sure the council could enact a bylaw that offered the detail he thought was necessary.
The rules that could play a critical role in animal welfare would probably need to come from a national authority.
Mr Roesler said the bylaw review would probably be completed in 2018.
