Cat Bylaw

A Cat Bylaw For Lethbridge?

While this issue is currently on the table at City Council, in other cities that have attempted a cat bylaw it has turned out to be a waste of money. Why?

  • It is not enforceable; it is voluntary and enforcement personnel are at capacity.
  • Those who let their cats roam or reproduce are not likely to license their cats.
  • It does not address pet overpopulation and owner responsibility, the heart of the issue.
  • Compliance will be low, as seen in other cities that have implemented a cat bylaw.
  • Complaints will increase, resulting in more culling and killing.
  • It is nearly impossible to identify which cats have been licensed.
  • Impound redemption fees may be prohibitive, resulting in increased killing.

Rather, the issue of roaming cats and their behaviour is a direct result of human irresponsibility:

  1. Failure to spay/neuter leads to both feral and owned cats reproducing, which adds to their burgeoning numbers.
  2. Failure to keep owned cats indoors leads to defecation in gardens, damage to vehicles, and noises associated with feline copulation.
  3. Failure to ensure cats are identifiable (microchip, collar, or tattoo) leads to impoundment and euthanasia in the event that no owner comes forward.

Thus, requesting that cat owners voluntarily come forward to pay a yearly tax on their cat(s) will not directly solve these problems.

Rather than putting further funds towards a bylaw that is doomed to fail, NOKA urges Lethbridge City Council and Administration to continue in their boldly progressive actions that includes subsidized spay/neuter clinics. NOKA is confident that this is the beginning of addressing the ‘cat problem’ and the initiative to which funds should be directed.

Furthermore, NOKA recommends a strong public education campaign on responsible pet ownership to further address the issue.

Problems with the proposal of a cat bylaw:

  1. The survey used to inform the cat bylaw is old and not specific to cats and the sample too small.
  2. This issue is not significant for Lethbridge residents. (Of 6,000 complaints involving animals last year, 1,700 concerned cats, or about 2.3% of the population; 97.7% had no problems with cats serious enough to file a complaint.)
  3. The bylaw is not enforceable.
  4. Only responsible owners will license their cats. Marginal cat owners will not comply. (Low compliance has been noted in municipalities which have adopted cat bylaws.)
  5. It is difficult and often impossible to prove ownership of a cat.
  6. It does not address education for responsible pet ownership.
  7. It does not address the problem of cat overpopulation, feral reproduction, abandoned and lost cats.
  8. It will result in mass euthanasia. It currently costs taxpayers about $90 per cat to process, house and kill.
  9. When cat bylaws are enacted, the number of cat complaints increases as much as tenfold and the intake of cats into the shelter increases exponentially. This has been shown to result in increased killing of cats, since every stray pet cat and every feral cat could be killed under these bylaws.
  10. Cat trapping/removing, in other North American cities, has not worked. Currently approximately 800 cats are trapped annually in Lethbridge and taken to the animal shelter. Given that cat bylaws trapping and intake at shelters, cat intake and euthanasia numbers will spike.
  11. Cat bylaws are expensive. First-year costs to implement the bylaw are anticipated at $264,000, including one-time start-up costs of $24,000. An increase in animal control staff and enforcement efforts would be required. With the anticipated increase in cat intake at the shelter, the facility may require expansion.
  12. Many of the cats that will be killed under the bylaw may actually be owned and loved.
  13. Claim rates for owned cats are low (around 5%). Currently owners retrieving a cat from the shelter pay a $50 impoundment fee plus accrued boarding charges. Additional fines would lower the claim rate.
  14. Many humane citizens who care for feral cats or stray pet cats would be forced to turn these cats over to the pound for killing, instead of maintaining them at large.
  15. Responsible cat owners will be indignant because their cats aren’t a problem yet they are being penalized.
  16. It would be impossible to know which cats were licensed unless they all wore collars that could not be removed. Collars can be dangerous for cats.
  17. The fees for contravention of the bylaw are steep (up to $2500, or in default of payment, imprisonment for a term of up to six months).

Positive solutions for Lethbridge:  

  1. Increase public education regarding acceptable cat behaviour and care (including indoor-only life). Having free roaming cats needs to become socially unacceptable.
  2. Begin a public education campaign regarding the number of cats killed each week in Lethbridge, responsible pet ownership (including spaying/neutering) and how to solve pet challenges humanely.
  3. Control cat population through mandatory spay/neuter policies and trap-neuter-return programs.
  4. Lethbridge City council’s generous and progressive community spay/neuter program must be continued.
  5. Require a breeding license for all unaltered cats; the breeding license number should be required for all sales of kittens. The breeding of cats needs to be regulated to avoid abuse and overpopulation.
  6. Enforce strict humane trapping protocols using City-authorized traps.
  7. Enforce stricter laws regarding animal abuse, neglect and abandonment.
  8. Provide mediation support to settle neighbourly disputes regarding cats. Encourage the use of creative and humane solutions such as selling motion-activated sprinklers.
  9. Enact a progressive adoption program at the City shelter.
  10. Increase humane and compassionate care of cats at the City shelter.
  11. Promote pet identification through mandatory microchipping and tattooing.
  12. Spay/neuter all pets leaving the shelter.
  13. Decrease the impoundment fee to increase owner retrieval from the City shelter.
  14. Grant a free City license to individuals utilizing the City’s subsidized spay/neuter program.
  15. Continue collaboration between the City shelter and rescue groups (rescue groups are currently caring for over 200 cats).

NOKA suggests that right now, the City has an opportunity to improve the status of cats and create a whole new generation of responsible pet owners. This is the only way we, as a community, will dramatically decrease the number of cats and cat problems.

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