The Hamilton Animal Control will no longer pick up Strays

[catmandu]

In 2010.
I am going to a public meeting to voice my objections.
They are going to classify Stray Pets as Wildlife , out of thier jurasdiction.
They are tired of picking up Stray Pets and having to euthanize them, or ind homes for Kittens and Puppies.
And they will institite fines if you feed or shelter Strays.
And the fines will be substansial ones!!!
The trouble is that the Strays will not just go away , they will do what nature has taught them to multiply and try thier hardest to survive.
I guess I will have to use My Vet a lot more and pay the costs as theres no way I will not help the Helpless Ones.
Its not thier fault that they are Lost Souls.

[katladyd]

Wow! That is harsh!!! Our animal control in my area have to round up and neuter and find homes, and sometimes euthanize, homeless pets. I do not know how I would react if they started this kind of movement.

[Medusa]

It's getting to be brutal all over and a contributing factor is that many people just will not listen when it comes to altering their pets. There is a law here where stray cats are trapped and euthanized w/in 24 hours. It's awful.

[phesina]

How awful. And how tragic, how sad.

[Karen]

If I could be there with you to be another loud voice in opposition, I would be in a heartbeat.

Why not institute a TNR program, and education program with inexpensive spaying and neutering?

[cassiesmom]

If I could be there with you to be another loud voice in opposition, I would be in a heartbeat.

Would a letter help?

[catmandu]

I will have to look up the address and post it where Pet Talkers can address thier concerns,
I have no illusions that I can change anything , at these discussions you get upand are given a minute to speak but not debate the issue at hand.
Then they do want they want anyways.
I hope the some of you recieved that letter on the by law changes that I sent out.
Its sad that in cutting costs the Poor Strays are going to be scape goats.

[Laura's Babies]

That is outrageous! #%&%# Let those who care enough to help them do what they can and leave them ALONE! Why not make stricter laws for owning a pet? Laws to MAKE them be s/n or be fined? It is people who do not s/n that are causing the problem.... If your neighbor has a cat that has kittens, set up a hot line for the people around them to call and turn them in. SOCK the fines on them...

So what happens now? They start multiplying like crazy and they are into everything looking for food because nobody is feeding them and they are starving? Neighborhoods get over run with strays so the people who live there are allowed to treat them with cruelty.. Open season on strays?

I see this creating a lot larger problem than how it is done now..

[catmandu]

The email address is [email protected].
They generally give you a minute to speak so I will have to choose my words carefully.

But if I had not fed Scrappy 2 she would have starved or been taken by disease.
The Only way you are going to control the number of strays is by TNRing them , otherwise as Laura said you get an overflow of desperate hungry Cats!

[momoffuzzyfaces]

our town will only take stray dogs in. If they don't find a home for them in two weeks, they kill them. They won't even take cats. There has been talk lately of having the police shoot them on sight!

When they miss and hit a child maybe they will know how stupid an idea that is.

[catmandu]

I got up and spoke for my minute and tried to explain that ignoring the Pet Over Poulation was not going to help the situation, that these Animals have strong urges as we do to survive!!!
But most of the people there only care that these #$^&*(( Strays are getting into thier garbage bins, there didnt seem to be compassion for the Poor Lost Souls.
Its going to be tough for these Little Faces , and I will not let them go hungry.
I will see My Friends at the Animal Welfare Association for ideas!!!

[katladyd]

This is criminal of them. I can see if they lack the resources to pick up strays and house them. That I can somewhat understand. But to target people who help these poor creatures?!! These people are not human.

[catmandu]

I left fairly earlyand missed the Animal Welfare and Help a Furry Friend Advocates as they put forward thier arguments that we owe it to Ctas and Dogs to help them, as we have domesticated them, and cant leave them in the lurch.
The interesting thing is that this debate is that its mainly about Cats , as I know of situations in agricultural area where Feral Dogs form packs and actually kill livestock, and Pets.
I read from my Sister In Law that we made to be allowed to feed Cats , and thats good.
But thats not going to help Momma Cats to be like Katherine Lee Sterling and Scrappy Apple.If the Animal Control didnt pick them up and find them foster homes , they would have had thier Kittens in the wild wheres its very unsafe.
This might pass as the average home owner seems to be more concerned with taxes than Strays.
In Ontario they just wasted 1 Billion Dollars on E Health Records which are still not done and the Federal Government 2 Billion Dollars on a badly run Gun Registration program.
That would have helped a lot of Stary Animals.