Cat rangers and collars with bells on are some of the ideas Dunedin City Council wants to lobby Government for. (file photo)

Councils around the country are looking to band together to rein in roaming moggies.

Dunedin City Council has suggested its colleagues help it push the Government for national rules that could include cat rangers and shutting cats in overnight.

Seven other councils around the country have given the idea, and its environmental focus, their backing ahead of a July vote at the Local Government New Zealand annual meeting.

SUPPLIED Hamilton has about 11,500 dogs - and probably more cats - Hamilton City Council City Safe manager Kelvin Powell said.

Hamilton City councillors discussed the issue at their latest meeting and were keen on rules for felines, but there were some dissenters at the table.

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Cat control would mean a significant increase in animal-control staffing, Hamilton City Safe manager Kelvin Powell said in response to councillor questions.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF An ageing population means "more old ladies with cats", making cat management more important, Councillor Mark Bunting said.

"In essence, it's talking about replicating something alike to the Dog Control Act, but for cats. We have 11,500 dogs in Hamilton and we have six dog-control officers who are responsible for that," he said.

"We would presumably have more cats in Hamilton than we have dogs."

Money from dog registrations covers about 65 per cent of animal-control costs, he said.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/FAIRFAX NZ Bringing in cat control could be "bigger than Ben Fur", Councillor Dave Macpherson said, but it's a good start.

Dunedin City Council suggested in its remit that councils should be allowed to recover the cost of managing cats.

It suggested measures include putting cats in collars with a bell, microchipping, desexing, and the creation of cat rangers.

In Hamilton, animal-lover Councillor Mark Bunting was a big supporter because he said cat legislation would be good.

He recounted how his household recently took in two "pretty crook" kittens which had been dumped.

"As our ageing population grows, so does the number of old ladies with cats, so [cat management] is something that we're going to have to deal with," he said.

"Is it just old ladies?" Cr Paula Southgate interjected.

"I'm just being stereotypical," Bunting said.

Organising councillors has often been compared to herding cats, Councillor Dave Macpherson said, so maybe the rules would help the staffers who have to wrangle elected members.

Cat management is a community need and rules would be a good start, he said - though he quipped it would be "bigger than Ben Fur".

It might also help work out whether cats causing damage are domestic or wild.

"At the moment, you daren't go around eradicating cats or using your .22 on them because you might actually hit someone's pet," he said.

But Cr Leo Tooman asked where council would draw the line.

"Next thing, we're going to have the kids who have to register their pet rabbit or their pet mice or their canary."

Cr James Casson leaned on environmental arguments, citing Forest and Bird estimates that cats kill 1.12m native birds a year.

Councils need to deal with the cat issue, Southgate said, but birds and animals will still face other predators.

And paying for cat ownership might encourage people to treat their animals better, Cr Siggi Henry said.

Councillors voted 8-2 to support the Dunedin City Council remit on cat management at the LGNZ meeting.

Those against were Rob Pascoe and Leo Tooman, and Garry Mallett, Angela O'Leary and Philip Yeung were absent.

Other LGNZ remits discussed at the meeting covered a policy on sugary drinks, whether a portion of GST should come back to the region where it was generated, and council's role in doling out litter infringements.