Haha...I made the paper...well kind of!

[krdahmer]

The bold part was me! My dad caught it in the paper today and told me...I talked with Ms.Wing when she was campaigning door to door last fall! She saw my incase of emergency sign for 7 cats and talked to me about them and what she had planned if she was elected...nice to know she's following through!

Local NewsHome News Local News Cat-limit bylaw under review by city Cat-limit bylaw under review by city
By ALISON LANGLEY , REVIEW STAFF WRITER
Updated 2 hours ago


Amending the city's bylaw that restricts the number of cats a person can own would be welcome news to the Niagara Falls Humane Society.

"I think it's definitely an idea worth exploring," said Jay Descroches, manager of the Chippawa Parkway shelter.

There are usually more than 100 cats at the shelter and dozens of others available at various adoption outlets across the city.

According to animal control officials, the feline population explosion comes down to irresponsible pet ownership, with far too many people not having their animals spayed or neutered.

Currently, the city bylaw limits the number of felines to three per household.

Coun. Janice Wing made a motion at council in January to have staff develop a report on the possibility of increasing that number.

Ironically, Wing was a member of the city's cat control committee that helped to draft the original bylaw back in 1989.

She had a change of heart, however, after hearing from constituents during the fall municipal campaign.

"I came across one lady who had seven cats," she said.

"She said they were all spayed or neutered, they all see the vet regularly and that she takes very good care of them.""

I thought, in cases where people are making the investment of their time, money and energy in doing this and we have cages at the shelter overflowing with cats, why wouldn't we extend the number?"


Wing said allowing people to have more than three cats would alleviate the strain on local shelters.

"We're looking at doing all we can to deal with the overwhelming number of unwanted and feral cats in the city and this may be one more tool to help us do that," she said.

According to the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, the average female cat can produce three litters a year, averaging four to six kittens per litter.

In seven years, one female cat and her offspring can theoretically produce 420,000 cats.

If the city's report suggests it would be beneficial to increase the limit, Wing said she would ask for public meetings to be held to receive input from the public.

"I'm hoping there's ample opportunity for the public to express either their support or concern," she said.

City clerk Dean Iorfida expects the report to be prepared by the spring.

While Wing's focus is on cats, she said the same amendment could also apply to dogs, which are also limited to three per household.

"If the dogs are spayed or neutered, then there wouldn't be a problem."

alangley@nfreview.com

[Melinda]

way to go!!! good for you for speaking out.

[Love4himies]

Yay . It's not the number of pets, but how well they are taken care of that is the issue. (you're not in trouble for having more than 3 are you?)

[14+kitties]

You rock girlfriend!!!! I am very proud of you for changing the mind of one person. That's all it takes sometimes. WTG!!!

[hedgiemama]

Way to go! hopefully they will raise the limit! the number shouldnt matter, just how well they are taken care of !

Originally Posted by Love4himies

(you're not in trouble for having more than 3 are you?)

I was wondering the same thing

[14+kitties]

It would be very interesting to know how many people actually stick to only three. My guess would be not many. This whole area of Southern Ontario has a huge cat overpopulation.

They are/were trying to impose a limit in my area too. Don't see that going down well. So many don't take responsibility for the ones they have. At one point I heard 2 per household, 10 if you lived on a farm. Not very realistic at all. They obviously don't know their constituents very well if they think farmers would care about how many cats they have. The only thing a "law" like that would do would be to increase the number of cats being drowned or shot. Very intelligent. Seriously, I wish sometimes these people who have the power to make changes would actually spend some time out in the field seeing how bad the problem really is.

[krdahmer]

As far as I know no, I'm not... I have also talked to the HS personnel at adoptathons...and even they say they only enforce that by-law if the pets are not being cared for, which is certainly not the case here! Truthfully I don't think the number of pets matters one iota, I think they need more man power to keep tabs on those that do have pets and make sure they are all taken care of. They need to encourage more to get involved, and speak out if they see pets not being taken care of.... and more would if they thought that something might actually get done about it.