Akureyri Banning Outdoor Cats In 2025

According to Akureyri.net, the free movement of cats will be banned in Akureyri from January 1st 2025. The majority of the town council approved the proposal yesterday.

Join our High Five Club at either the ‘Secret Handshake’ or ‘Elbow Five’ level, and get an e-copy of The Reykjavík Grapevine magazine emailed to you as soon as it comes out. And if you join before Friday November 12th, you can chat with the Grapevine Team on a Zoom call that afternoon!

The proposal to revise the by-laws of cats’ movement outside was submitted by Eva Hrund Einarsdóttir. She first submitted a “compromise proposal”, which wouldn’t have totally banned the cats from roaming around outside. However, many of the members of Akureyri’s town council wanted the proposal to be even more strict towards the topic.

Eva Hrund then changed her proposal and presented a new one, which stated that all cats should be kept inside, starting from the beginning of January 2025. It was approved by most of the town representatives, with seven people supporting the proposal. Four members of the town council were against it.

Hilda Jana Gísladóttir submitted minutes on behalf of the four members who objected the proposal. It states that the municipality did not try to change the by-laws in a way which would please everyone. According to the minutes, it would have been possible to change the rules by not allowing the cats to go out at night or during the breeding season of birds. This would have been a better option than a ban against outdoor cats.