QUEENSLAND'S cat lovers will soon be forced to take responsibility for their moggies - as councils bring in new laws to make registration compulsory.
From July 1 all 11 southeast Queensland councils including Brisbane will make cat owners register their animals with collars and identification tags.
All new cats will also have to be microchipped before they are sold.
RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty welcomed the move, saying it would help stop tens of thousands of stray cats and kittens being put down each year, but he said more was needed to be done in the future, including mandatory desexing.
"If we can't reunite animals with their owners, they are put to sleep," he said. "Registration can help us prevent this, but desexing cats would save a lot of unwanted kittens being destroyed."
Queensland and the Northern Territory are the only jurisdictions without compulsory registration and identification of cats and dogs.
The latest State Government figures show almost 100,000 were dumped at the RSPCA between 2003 and 2006, of which more than half were destroyed. The problem is so great that the RSPCA has started selling kittens to pet shops to save as many as possible.
Four Queensland councils Logan, Moreton Bay, Townsville and the Gold Coast will this year put desexing of dogs and cats on trial.
Last year Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman refused to introduce cat registration or de-sexing, but now the council has no choice.
