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Old January 18th, 2011, 10:03 AM
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Thumbs up Cats housbound in Oakville

Cats now housebound in Oakville. From todays Toronto Star.
The crucial question: Should cats, which are natural hunters, be allowed to freely to roam the streets?

As of Jan. 1, the answer in Oakville is no.

“If it’s your pet, you should have it under control,’’ said Johanne Golder, executive director of the Oakville and Milton Humane Society, which is contracted by Oakville to provide animal control services.

Oakville has joined neighbours Milton, Burlington and Hamilton in prohibiting cats from roaming free. The town has already banned dogs from running loose, but added cats to the list when it consolidated all animal bylaws last month.

Owners whose loose cats repeatedly end up at the Oakville shelter can be fined $105, plus a $30 town surcharge, a return fee of $25 and $15 for each day the cat stays at the shelter.

Golder said the mentality that cats are “disposable” pets (unwanted kittens are often abandoned or dumped at shelters) is to blame for the huge feline populations in urban centres.

The more cats, the fewer birds, said McGill University avian expert David Bird.

He said house pets are just as bloodthirsty as untamed ferals — homeless offspring of stray or abandoned cats raised without human contact.

Bird (his surname and passion are coincidental, he chirped) estimated well-fed pets alone destroy upwards of a billion birds annually around the world. The American Bird Conservancy estimates hundreds of millions are killed in the United States by cats each year but says an exact figure is unclear.
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Old January 18th, 2011, 10:14 AM
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There is more to this article,Toronto Cat Rescue is mentioned,also the implementing of a spay/neuter/release program for all feral.
I did not copy the whole article,but it's worth a read .
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Old January 18th, 2011, 10:20 AM
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I have mixed feelings about this. People are going to let their cat run free no matter what law is passed .

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Originally Posted by chico2 View Post


The more cats, the fewer birds, said McGill University avian expert David Bird.

He said house pets are just as bloodthirsty as untamed ferals — homeless offspring of stray or abandoned cats raised without human contact.

Bird (his surname and passion are coincidental, he chirped) estimated well-fed pets alone destroy upwards of a billion birds annually around the world. The American Bird Conservancy estimates hundreds of millions are killed in the United States by cats each year but says an exact figure is unclear.
But this statement really ticks me off . Very few domesticated cats are skilled bird hunters. I have only owned one, who was a survivor in Winnipeg before he pick our house to live at. Other than that only one bird (by Puddles) has been killed by my cats and yes, they frequent the bird feeders. It takes much less energy to kill a mouse than a bird and cats normally give up on catching birds at a young age. I see they aren't concerned over the mouse population .

Just another reason for people to hate cats.
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Old January 18th, 2011, 11:41 AM
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I too have mixed feelings. Not many are going to pay that kind of a fine to get their cat back. They would rather leave it in the shelter and go to the nearest farmer or "free to good home" ad and grab up another. They are a disposable pet. So then it's a vicious circle. The cat is there because the owner couldn't care less if it roamed. If it is lucky enough to be adopted again what's to say the next owner won't do the same?
This whole bird issue is ridiculous. Sure, cats kill birds. So do hawks, other birds, cars, etc, etc, etc. On the documentary that showed a couple of weeks ago it was not only cats moving in on the birds' nest they were taping. There were coons, snakes, etc as well. Are we going to make them accountable too or just keep on blaming the cat?
Case in point with my Catuary cats. There is only one who consistently hunts birds. She is not often successful in her endeavours. I would say maybe one bird every couple of weeks. The rest kind of look at her like - what are you doing? They are quite happy to have their human feeding machine visit a couple of times a day with their food.
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Old January 18th, 2011, 11:48 AM
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It does me too L4,we don't have many strays around here,actually none that I know of.
Vinnie caught a Sparrow last year,but I can count on 1 hand the birds any of my cats caught over many years.

Other birds,like the Blue-Jay(takes fledgelings) and Hawks take more birds than any cat.

I was just happy about the fact that maybe some people in my neighbor-hood,who profess to love their cats very much, will not let their beautiful cats roam.

In other cases,with people who don't care even to s/n their cats,would they pay the money to get the cats at HS,I doubt that very much and the cats will be stuck there.
But I am pleased at least someone is trying to get people to understand,letting your cats roam free is not acceptable.
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Old January 18th, 2011, 11:57 AM
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14+,you were faster than me,we say about the same
If you read the whole article in the Star,they also write about the feral cat-population and how to fight it with s/n/r programs,which is a good thing.

Feral cats,probably kill more birds than our domesticated cats,they have to survive,but the fault lies with humans and their attitude towards cats,were it not for ignorant humans,there would be no ferals or strays in the first place.
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Old January 18th, 2011, 12:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chico2 View Post
But I am pleased at least someone is trying to get people to understand,letting your cats roam free is not acceptable.
It is true that a lot of people will judge what is acceptable by the laws our gov'ts put in place. So I guess if it helps keep a percentage of cats safe then there is some good.
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Jasper RIP (2001-2018)
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Old January 18th, 2011, 04:59 PM
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I also think,why should cat-owners not be responsible for their cats,the same as dog-owners are,cats are certainly not worth any less,IMO.

I am thinking of all the pain I went through with Rocky,because of strange cats outside.


I also would not mind paying a license-fee for my cats,if the money is used for caring for shelter-kitties,but I guess it never came up at the meeting
That's a lot of I's
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Old January 18th, 2011, 09:10 PM
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I just heard about this today (I live in Milton). I have to say, I think it's a good idea. All pets should be treated equally with regards to bylaws. I can count about 4 or 5 cats that roam my street. Often I hear catfights and have had tons of cat poop in my front garden. This summer 2 cats fought in my flowerbed (ruined some really nice stuff), left behind tons of fur and a collar. I discovered that the owner of the collar is my next door neighbour's cat and she works in my vet office. You'd think she'd be somewhat educated on indoor vs outdoor cats. I have yet to work up the courage to talk to her about her poor kitty, who goes missing for months at a time and always comes back with some serious injuries. But I digress.

For me, it's about safety (although I do feel horrible about songbird predation), why wouldn't a person want to keep their loved pet indoors where it's safe? Perhaps their motivation is to save money and time on litter? Although I suspect many people feel that it's cruel to keep a cat cooped up indoors, but they're too lazy to provide their cats with supervised outdoor time to keep them safe, so they let them roam.

I'd like to think that most people would pay the fine and hopefully learn a valuable lesson (it's stressful to lose a pet) and keep them indoors. Perhaps I'm being naive?
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Old January 18th, 2011, 09:52 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stacer View Post
You'd think she'd be somewhat educated on indoor vs outdoor cats. I have yet to work up the courage to talk to her about her poor kitty, who goes missing for months at a time and always comes back with some serious injuries. But I digress.

Although I suspect many people feel that it's cruel to keep a cat cooped up indoors, but they're too lazy to provide their cats with supervised outdoor time to keep them safe, so they let them roam.
I find vets and their techs are sometimes pretty blasé about letting their own cats outside to roam. As long as they are fixed then what's the big deal, right? I don't feel they have a right then to complain about the vet bills they incur fixing their kitties up when they come home after a fight.
I'm not so sure it's that people think it's cruel to keep their cat indoors as it is they think it's "normal" to put their cat out every night. As I have said many times before lots of people think nothing of putting out their cat before going to bed. It's as natural to them as locking their door. Until that attitude changes I don't think much else will. We're getting there - slowly.
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Old January 19th, 2011, 08:19 AM
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Like the rest of you I worry about the domestics that will be picked up by AC yet not claimed due to the high penalty. I have seen this in many shelters and pounds. People have the attitude that they might as well go and buy another for cheaper then getting theirs back for such a price. Cats do not carry the same 'value' as dogs. This is a fact. They are 'replacable' and not considered valued family members by society's standards IMO.
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Old January 19th, 2011, 08:53 AM
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I believe,the more media-coverage of the plight of abandoned,feral and the danger to "out-door"kitties,is brought up,plus info about low-cost spay/neuter clinics can only be a good thing.
Maybe it will open some peoples eyes

Something has to be done,to get people to see,the harm they are doing to these wonderful creatures,whom we all love so very much.
The shelters are over-flowing,is it not better to try to come to some kind of solution,other than masskilling.
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