Cat owners will need to get their pets aged six months or more licensed if proposed bylaw changes go ahead.
People would also be prevented from keeping more than two cats or two dogs aged six months or more in any house, shelter or room.
In addition, the amendments presented to Barrhead Town Council seek to protect pets through an anti-cruelty regulation.
“No person shall cause unnecessary suffering to a dog or cat or other animal by neglect or deprivation nor punish or abuse a dog or cat or other animal in a manner or to an extent that is cruel or unnecessary,” the draft document states.
Other proposed provisions include:
•Preventing owners from allowing cats to run at large within the town;
•Any cat at large within the town must be under a person’s physical control by means of a leash, chain or similar device;
•The council has a duty to establish a pound for dogs or cats captured pursuant to the bylaw;
•An enforcement officer may impound any cat if he or she suspects of an offence;
•Any person may seize a cat found at large and deliver it to an officer;
•A cat owner who allows his animal to defecate on another person’s property must clean up the mess;
• A cat which is in heat must be kept housed and confined; and
• Residences or grounds where a cat is kept shall be kept clean and sanitary to the satisfaction of an enforcement officer.
The proposals are included in an amended Animal Control Bylaw. At their regular meeting last Monday, councillors gave the bylaw its first reading.
Town council heard that changes include the addition of cats to the bylaw, and provisions for livestock.
Under the proposed bylaw amendment, penalties for first-time infractions would range from $75 to $500. The punishments would double, then triple, for second and third offences.
Pound fees would be $20 per day, while the following rates are suggested for the purchase of an annual dog or cat licence: each spayed/neutered dog or cat, $8; unsprayed/unneutered dog or cat, $20; each dog trained to assist in daily living, nil; and replacement of lost or destroyed dog tag, $8.
Municipal secretary Cheryl Callihoo suggested the public have a chance to provide input on the proposed bylaw change.
Barrhead Animal Rescue Society has long called for cats to be registered and collared. Last year, president Terry Colborne said it was time for cats to be treated in the same way as dogs under the town’s animal control bylaw. “There are no bylaws for cats. Why can’t we register and put collars on cats?” he said. “That way we would be able to identify them.”
Breakaway collars could be used if people were concerned about strangulation, he added.
Anyone wishing to contact Colborne about the draft bylaw can email him at [email protected]. The telephone number for BARS is 780-307-6590.
