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Proposed cat bylaw gone to the dogs

April 16, 2008 14:04

To the editor: I would like to share with North Star readers the following letter I sent to Mayor Ted Knight and council concerning the proposed cat bylaw: My wife and I have two female cats that we adopted from the Parry Sound Animal Shelter. Both are neutered; both wear tags with name, address and telephone number; and both have up-to-date shots. The older cat has a microchip implant, an option that was not available at the shelter when we got the younger one. Both cats go out, almost exclusively in the backyard, and we have never had a report of their doing any damage. So we would like to see town council reject the proposed cat bylaw. One reason is cats themselves. As Audrey Tournay points out in her article in the April 30 edition of the Beacon Star, cats do more good than many people realize, especially in their capacity to inhibit the rodent population and decrease tic-and flea-borne diseases. You may remember Dick Whittington’s cat who killed rats and removed the threat of bubonic plague. That cat is, of course, legendary, but it is remembered as a symbol of all the cats which did indeed reduce the spread of plague in 14th- and 17th-century London. Also, cats are good for the elderly. The new long-term care facility at the West Parry Sound Health Centre will have four cats in residence to provide stimulation and companionship for patients. It’s well-known that cats are medically and psychologically beneficial in such facilities. But another reason is the proposed law itself. It punishes responsible cat owners by assuming all of them are irresponsible. Why should we pay again for what we have already paid for? The bylaw would exempt indoor cats, but I have friends with indoor cats and they occasionally get out for a brief vacation. If one of those cats were to be picked up by a bylaw enforcement officer, its owners would be liable to pay a fine of up to $5,000. That’s unfair. And how will the bylaw be enforced? The town employs one full time and two part-time bylaw enforcement officers who work during the day, while cats like to go out at night. And if cats are picked up by these officers, where will they be held? The Parry Sound OSPCA branch does not have adequate space now. More cats will strain the facility past its limits. The information sheet I received on the bylaw states: “The licensing fee (is) prescribed to cover administration and enforcement of the proposed bylaw,” but given the impracticality of actually enforcing it, the whole proposal looks more like a tax-grab. It would take between $5 and $55 from each cat owner in Parry Sound and then do nothing. That may sound cynical, but it is not meant so. The town simply does not have the means, nor the trained personnel, nor the equipment to do so. This law has been proposed because 90 people out of a population of 6500 thought it was a good idea. Some of them obviously had trouble with neighbourhood cats. Those problems can be dealt with privately. Others perhaps just don’t like cats. That is called ailurophobia, or a fear of cats. But basing law on a 1.39 per cent sample of the population or on irrational phobias is bad business. I hope council will act rationally and reject this bylaw. Thank you for your attention. Paul Davy Parry Sound

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