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Cornwall city councillors have voiced some early misgivings about some of the policies proposed for the new cat control bylaw the city is working on.
Ideas such as having all pet cats kept inside and only allowed outside when on a leash or tether, as well a proposed rule that would turn anyone who feeds feral cats into their legal owner were greeted with hesitance.
“My neighbour feeds some feral cats, but they are not his responsibility, and I don’t think its right that he would be responsible for neutering those cats … my mother feeds birds, should she responsible for the birds,” asked Coun. Justin Towndale. “Putting cats on leashes? Just no, that doesn’t make sense to me. Sometimes cats get out and explore, that’s just what they do.”
The list presented to council at its meeting on Monday is the result of months of research and consultation between the city and the SD&G chapter of the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA). Most of the policies were lifted from the cat control bylaws of other municipalities.
The feed-to-own policy, for instance, is a modified version of rule from the City of Peterborough’s 2017 animal bylaw, which says anyone who permits stray animals to live on their property can to be said be keeping them as pets and are responsible for cleaning up after them. The Cornwall proposal adds the feeding provision.
Peterborough Humane Society animal control officer Dan Pazder said Peterborough’s rule is too different from the one being proposed in Cornwall to compare, although Padzer pointed out people who provide care to stray animals are already considered to be their caretakers by the OSPCA Act.
One of the proposed policies Peterborough does have though is the no-outdoor-cats rule, which Padzer says residents do obey, for the most part.
“It’s about changing people’s mentality that cats aren’t native to Ontario, so why are they allowed to run at-large and dogs aren’t?” said Pazder. “Some people have set up containment enclosures or taught them to walk on leashes — not very many though. Most people just keep them inside the house.”
Cornwall councillors knew that imposing new rules on cat ownership was going to be a controversial undertaking, but with 30 per cent of all strays taken in by the OSPCA in all of Ontario coming from the city, Coun. Bernadette Clement said something has to be done.
“This report is a good start, and obviously we need to do something. This issue keeps coming back, so clearly, the community and the OSPCA want’s us to deal with this,” she said.
Councillors said they will make sure there will be ample public consultation on the new bylaw, including online feedback and in-person meetings spaced out over different days for maximum engagement.
Besides the local OSPCA, there are other people in Cornwall who have been trying to deal with Cornwall’s cat population crisis, often on their own time. Mary Jane Hill and Melissa Alepins both run operations where they trap strays, get them spayed, and release them. They both say the best way the city can deal with the cat population is to fund more catch-and-return programs.
“The cat’s lifespan after release is still four or five years, but that way we are controlling the kitten situation. We can spay five cats on Adolphus Court, but then a week later a mother comes in and — bam — there’s eight kittens, and we’re back to square one,” said Hill.
The problem with catch-and-return programs is the same for the city as it is for Hill and Alpins: money.
Chief building official Christopher Rodgers told council on Monday it costs the local OSPCA about $500 to spay or neuter a cat. The organization’s head office is willing to send its mobile spay and neuter clinic to Cornwall, which can do 40 operations in a day, but would need financial assistance from the city to do so.
Coun. Denis Carr said the cat problem is so large the city will have to bite the bullet and put up some money if it wants to make any headway in fixing it.
“I don’t think we have a choice. This is a health issue and not just for the cats. It’s a health issue for the people who live here,” he said.
Hill and Alepins say they both save a massive amount of money taking the cats to veterinarians outside of Cornwall where prices for getting them fixed are much cheaper. A quick poll on Facebook on Tuesday revealed this is a very common practice in Cornwall, with many people going outside the city when getting animals fixed instead of paying upwards of $400 to local vets.
ahale@postmedia.com
twitter.com/alan_S_hale
查看原文...
Ideas such as having all pet cats kept inside and only allowed outside when on a leash or tether, as well a proposed rule that would turn anyone who feeds feral cats into their legal owner were greeted with hesitance.
“My neighbour feeds some feral cats, but they are not his responsibility, and I don’t think its right that he would be responsible for neutering those cats … my mother feeds birds, should she responsible for the birds,” asked Coun. Justin Towndale. “Putting cats on leashes? Just no, that doesn’t make sense to me. Sometimes cats get out and explore, that’s just what they do.”
The list presented to council at its meeting on Monday is the result of months of research and consultation between the city and the SD&G chapter of the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA). Most of the policies were lifted from the cat control bylaws of other municipalities.
The feed-to-own policy, for instance, is a modified version of rule from the City of Peterborough’s 2017 animal bylaw, which says anyone who permits stray animals to live on their property can to be said be keeping them as pets and are responsible for cleaning up after them. The Cornwall proposal adds the feeding provision.
Peterborough Humane Society animal control officer Dan Pazder said Peterborough’s rule is too different from the one being proposed in Cornwall to compare, although Padzer pointed out people who provide care to stray animals are already considered to be their caretakers by the OSPCA Act.
One of the proposed policies Peterborough does have though is the no-outdoor-cats rule, which Padzer says residents do obey, for the most part.
“It’s about changing people’s mentality that cats aren’t native to Ontario, so why are they allowed to run at-large and dogs aren’t?” said Pazder. “Some people have set up containment enclosures or taught them to walk on leashes — not very many though. Most people just keep them inside the house.”
Cornwall councillors knew that imposing new rules on cat ownership was going to be a controversial undertaking, but with 30 per cent of all strays taken in by the OSPCA in all of Ontario coming from the city, Coun. Bernadette Clement said something has to be done.
“This report is a good start, and obviously we need to do something. This issue keeps coming back, so clearly, the community and the OSPCA want’s us to deal with this,” she said.
Councillors said they will make sure there will be ample public consultation on the new bylaw, including online feedback and in-person meetings spaced out over different days for maximum engagement.
Besides the local OSPCA, there are other people in Cornwall who have been trying to deal with Cornwall’s cat population crisis, often on their own time. Mary Jane Hill and Melissa Alepins both run operations where they trap strays, get them spayed, and release them. They both say the best way the city can deal with the cat population is to fund more catch-and-return programs.
“The cat’s lifespan after release is still four or five years, but that way we are controlling the kitten situation. We can spay five cats on Adolphus Court, but then a week later a mother comes in and — bam — there’s eight kittens, and we’re back to square one,” said Hill.
The problem with catch-and-return programs is the same for the city as it is for Hill and Alpins: money.
Chief building official Christopher Rodgers told council on Monday it costs the local OSPCA about $500 to spay or neuter a cat. The organization’s head office is willing to send its mobile spay and neuter clinic to Cornwall, which can do 40 operations in a day, but would need financial assistance from the city to do so.
Coun. Denis Carr said the cat problem is so large the city will have to bite the bullet and put up some money if it wants to make any headway in fixing it.
“I don’t think we have a choice. This is a health issue and not just for the cats. It’s a health issue for the people who live here,” he said.
Hill and Alepins say they both save a massive amount of money taking the cats to veterinarians outside of Cornwall where prices for getting them fixed are much cheaper. A quick poll on Facebook on Tuesday revealed this is a very common practice in Cornwall, with many people going outside the city when getting animals fixed instead of paying upwards of $400 to local vets.
ahale@postmedia.com
twitter.com/alan_S_hale
查看原文...
