11779 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

We’re governed by fools elected by ignoramuses...

That sums up the CoV situation rather succinctly.

[Awaiting Juno]

Well within the City's lane: requiring the licensing of cats and ending the practice of permitting cats to be at large. Last night around 8 I got a knock on my door - with a person standing there in the rain asking if we own a black and white cat, as one had been struck on Dallas Road and was dying. We don't own any cats, but there are a few who roam the neighbourhood. Thinking it might belong to our neighbour - I went to knock on their door. I was relieved to hear that their cat was in their house and was an indoor cat. However, they knew who the cat belonged to - so I went to that house and knocked on that door to deliver the news and ask they attend to it. I returned to the scene and informed that the cat owner would arrive shortly and a few minutes later they arrived to the side of the road and confirmed it was their cat. Sadly the cat had died - it was not alone when it died, as the passerby who had knocked on my door stayed with the cat to provide it comfort while the owner was located.

 

I am sorry for the cat owner's loss.

 

I am also frustrated, as this isn't the first time such a knock on my door has happened. Over the past few years, I've had at least 3 such occurrences. I would however, prefer if such knocks on the door were a rare to never occurrence. They happen because cats are permitted to be at large, and are not required to wear a collar (or otherwise) with identifying information. As a result, either the owner is found (largely because of luck), or alternatively a poster will appear on local telephone pole pleading to find a lost cat.

 

If the City of Victoria could please update the cat bylaw and require cats be licensed, I'd appreciate it. Such knocks on my door do not need to happen, lost cat posters should be far less common - because invariably the knock on the door and the posters are never about a dog. Please, for the sake of the cats who call Victoria home, require their owners, like those who own dogs, license them. Please require that they not be permitted to roam at large. Please.

[Victoria Watcher]

i am not sure if you will win that battle.

 

some people - not sure the percentage - think it's a cat's right to roam at large and that indoor cat policies are somehow cruel or restricts the cat's rights to "freedom".

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 September 2021 - 10:01 AM.

[Mike K.]

I had a cat die in my driveway this summer. Eventually we found the owners who resided 2km away as the bird flies. The cat was an indoor cat, and had gone missing a couple of days prior to its passing. We couldn’t see any obvious trauma so it’s hard to say how it died.

[Mike K.]

Our cat stays within our yard. He has never bothered to try to find ways to escape, and just stares out into the world through the fence every once in a while but mostly patrols the grounds from one flower bed to the next.

He was an indoor cat for his entire life, until almost four years ago. After having a yard to prowl, he has become a completely different pet, being healthier, more explorative, more inquisitive, and loves to be at our side whenever we’re in the yard. It’s like he’s got a new lease on life, and at the age of 16 the vet says he’s got the health of a cat half his age.

I understand and appreciate people letting their cats out, but I also understand and appreciate those who think cats should remain indoors.

[Awaiting Juno]

Our cat stays within our yard. He has never bothered to try to find ways to escape, and just stares out into the world through the fence every once in a while but mostly patrols the grounds from one flower bed to the next.

He was an indoor cat for his entire life, until almost four years ago. After having a yard to prowl, he has become a completely different pet, being healthier, more explorative, more inquisitive, and loves to be at our side whenever we’re in the yard. It’s like he’s got a new lease on life, and at the age of 16 the vet says he’s got the health of a cat half his age.

I understand and appreciate people letting their cats out, but I also understand and appreciate those who think cats should remain indoors.

 

At the very least, if they were licensed, the odds of being reunited with their owner would be greatly improved. Further, the costs associated with trying to enforce the bylaws would be partly recouped. 

[Awaiting Juno]

Note: a cat in it's owner's yard is not "at large" just as a dog in a yard is not "at large".

[Mike K.]

At the very least, if they were licensed, the odds of being reunited with their owner would be greatly improved. Further, the costs associated with trying to enforce the bylaws would be partly recouped. 

 

I spoke with a bylaw officer once about the licensing issue. He said the problem is cats are aloof, and can associate themselves with multiple homes. Proving who owns Fluffy, when Fluffy likes to visit Mrs. Jones down the road, and hangs out in the shed of Mr. Smith, but neither Mrs. Jones or Mr. Smith knows where the cat sleeps on most nights, makes the exercise trickier than it would be with a dog when it comes to confronting an owner about a violation.

 

What a lot of people do is get a chip tracker inserted into Fluffy, then a vet or a rescue can scan it to get the owner's name if a cat is found wandering around, and no authorities are involved.

[Awaiting Juno]

I spoke with a bylaw officer once about the licensing issue. He said the problem is cats are aloof, and can associate themselves with multiple homes. Proving who owns Fluffy, when Fluffy likes to visit Mrs. Jones down the road, and hangs out in the shed of Mr. Smith, but neither Mrs. Jones or Mr. Smith knows where the cat sleeps on most nights, makes the exercise trickier than it would be with a dog.

 

Isn't that more reason to require the actual owner to license their pet? What about the costs of animal control, why should that fall to dog owners alone? Our cat bylaws are actually very strict - however, lack of licensing makes them next to impossible to enforce. 

[Nparker]

I'm just not feline the recent posts in this thread.

[Mike K.]

It's just another layer of bureaucracy. We need less government intervention in our lives, not more.

 

Once we start licensing cats, we're done for.

[Victoria Watcher]

my cat knows how to present its papers when faced with a roadblock or checkpoint. it’s one of the first “talks” you need to have with your cat. and the younger the better.

[Matt R.]

Ha! Funny this thread, our cats have always been indoor outdoor, catching birds, mice, rats, rabbits, shrews etc but after a complaint from our neighbour and a LOT of missing cat posters lately, we are building them a “catio” under the back deck. I hope they appreciate it!

Matt.

[punk cannonballer]

Anyone with a cat will know that they sometimes get out, despite your best efforts. Ours is chipped and tattooed; I don't see a need for a license personally as it will only create more bureaucracy for the percentage of responsible people who probably have already done all the right things.

Edited by punk cannonballer, 29 September 2021 - 01:07 PM.

[Stephen James]

i am not sure if you will win that battle.

 

some people - not sure the percentage - think it's a cat's right to roam at large and that indoor cat policies are somehow cruel or restricts the cat's rights to "freedom".

Indoor cats average 12-15 years.

Outdoor cats 7 years. (roughly half)

 

No cat needs to go outside and they never should. Where the idea came from, that cats should be outside roaming free, any more than dogs, is a mystery but thats true of many bad ideas. 

[Stephen James]

I spoke with a bylaw officer once about the licensing issue. He said the problem is cats are aloof, and can associate themselves with multiple homes. Proving who owns Fluffy, when Fluffy likes to visit Mrs. Jones down the road, and hangs out in the shed of Mr. Smith, but neither Mrs. Jones or Mr. Smith knows where the cat sleeps on most nights, makes the exercise trickier than it would be with a dog when it comes to confronting an owner about a violation.

 

What a lot of people do is get a chip tracker inserted into Fluffy, then a vet or a rescue can scan it to get the owner's name if a cat is found wandering around, and no authorities are involved.

My neighbours dog, when I lived in another city, roamed free and considered our home a second home.

 

The chip is the answer. Chip the cats and fine the owners. If the cat isn't chipped, seize the cat.

[Nparker]

...If the cat isn't chipped, seize the cat.

Carpe cattus.

[Stephen James]

I'm just not feline the recent posts in this thread.

 

This little gem deserves to be acknowledged.

[Victoria Watcher]

Indoor cats average 12-15 years.
Outdoor cats 7 years. (roughly half)

No cat needs to go outside and they never should. Where the idea came from, that cats should be outside roaming free, any more than dogs, is a mystery but thats true of many bad ideas.

But some cats measure fullness of life not in number of years, but in richness of experiences.

Like Doja Cat.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 September 2021 - 02:06 PM.

[Stephen James]

But some cats measure fullness of life not in number of years, but in richness of experiences.

Like Doja Cat.

Do you have this directly from cat, or are you speaking for them