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Calgary Cat Groups Object Cat Licencing article by hkh "when it comes to animals, actions speaks louder than words - listen" Should a Pet Cat have to be registered with the City? June 2006. Calgary, Alberta Canada - Cats groups are lobbying together against a new bylaw in formation that demands that Cats be licenced and registered. While we personally agree to the need to recognize pet ownership with legal registration, I find it hard to visualize a cat wearing a collar and a "tag" that identifies itself. Whoever thought that one up, knows VERY little about cats, or is perhaps better said to be - mis-informed. Unlike dogs, cats crawl under and over things, they climb heights, they balance on ledges, they slide through tiny spaces to catch mice, they walk along beams and crawl under fences..... collars and tags are out of the question. They are not dogs so they can't be treated like them. (good grief it's like saying boys are like girls!!) Due to all the expenses most responsible pet owners already have with just regular medical and general health costs (deworming, nail cutting, vaccines, flea and mite control, grooming, feeding, accessories and medical emergencies that may arise) how does one solve the problem of identification without imposing financial duress to responsible pet owners? It's simple! Make it law that pet owners (cats AND dogs alike) have a designated period of time after acquiring the animal (let's say 18 months) - to have the animal spayed or neutered. This gives folks a chance to adjust to the new law, save money, make pre-payments to their vets or have enough time to make an appointment to attend special clinics that offer special pricing for altering cats and dogs. In the same breath, the City Animal Bylaw Control Department should offer special pricing for the Public to alter their pets! It is somewhat ridiculous to impose such a law if they have nothing to offer in return, as Vets (sorry guys) are way too expensive when it comes to altering pet members of a family. There's no big deal in something so common as spaying or neutering and it is a neccessity to do so, prices should be lowered in comparison to our neighbors in the states. We're not talking heart surgery, we're not talking emergency services and we're not talking about a urinary track infection, we're talking population control. Using the tattoo number (similar tracking system to our Tattoo-Find Data List), given to the animal, the animal can them be registered with City Animal Bylaw Control Departments. Proof of alteration to the pet?! A designated form supplied by Animal Control, is completed by the Vet using his business licence # - gst # etc. as proof for verification that the said vet excists and honors the certificate provided to Animal Control Bylaw Officers for registration. The animal can either be traced back to an owner and if the last "registered owner" can no longer be found, then the vet who altered the animal can be traced and further information can be acquired. (health history if any, name of person who had the animal altered to verify if it is the same person who last registered the animal - etc). There's every reason to use the tattoo number as identification and there's over a million unwanted animals right now that reside in a shelter or other that stand behind the reasoning why pets, by law, should be spayed or neutered. What more reason is needed?

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Over time, the stats on euthanization have proven that we as people, have altered nature by allowing greater numbers of reproduction than the animal's would reproduce on their own in the wild. But to say that Cats - only - are obliged to be spayed or neutered, is not fair. The same goes for Dogs, as more and more dogs get "dropped off" in the country side and those stats count. Most die of starvation, some get hit on a highway trying to find their way back home, some are a meal to a couple of coyotes or even a cougar and some get shot by farmers who do not want them on their land or going after their livestock. They figure it's either a wild dog or another stray that was dropped off and no use to them. Either way, Dogs that perish in this fashion are not counted in the stats. They are not brought into the Humane Society (surrendered dogs are more expensive than surrendered cats) - nor are they trapped by City Animal Control Officers and later put down when no one comes for them after the designated time. So while there are arguements based on "stats" alone, those stats are not totally accurate, nor are they based on the truth of the fact. Besides, who in their right mind, knowing anything factual and basing it on an unbias decision, would say that cat's need to wear licences around their necks on a collar! Hello! And while I'm on a roll, I'd like to voice that municipal governments should have no right to impose a said number of animals a person is permitted to have. It is a human instinct to live with animals and vice versa! Some prefer one, some prefer twenty! If domesticated animals are spayed or neutered, do not roam at large or cause loud disturbances, then who's to say how many animals a person is permitted to keep on their properties just cause they don't like knowing about it or seeing some of them enclosed in a protective cage, in the individual's yard? A topic such as this should not be based on people's personal opinions or gossip but that the individual is not creating a disturbance and has followed the law. Live and let Live!

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