Update on Calgary's Cat Licencing...

[Catty1]

Cat licence effective

calgary.ctv.ca

pts

POSTED AT 4:35 PM Friday, February 2

More than 16,000 cats in Calgary have been licensed in the first month, smashing expectations.

The director of animal services, Bill Bruce, had hoped to licence 20 to 30 thousand cats in the first year, not the first month.

Empty cages at the city’s animal shelter are not a common sight.

Bruce says the month-old bylaw requiring responsible ownership and cat licensing is helping.

"The early benefits we're starting to see now, I have two cats in my shelter, which is down significantly from this time last year," he says. "I think that's a reflection of more people being aware of the cat bylaw and licensing and keeping cats indoors."

In fact, city staffs are being overwhelmed with the number of licence applications.

"It's exceeded our expectations," says Bruce, "at this point we've got about 16,400 processed licences and we have about another 10,000 to process. We are behind on processing because of the flood."

Bruce had hoped to license up to 30,000 cats the first year, not within the first month.

The Calgary Humane Society has also seen a decline in the number of cats in its facility.

There are currently 353 cats in the society's care, down 130 from this time last year.

"Just the fact that people are licensing their cats is a good indication that people are being responsible towards their cats," says Hedy Hope of the society, "we really want to be able to reunite cats with their families."

Just because there are fewer cats at the shelters right now doesn't mean there aren't too many strays on the street and too many cats still looking for homes.

"There is an over-population problem of cats despite our numbers being down this year," says Hope, "we still have more cats than adoptable families."

The city is also starting to draw up plans for a subsidized spay and neuter clinic at animal services to help lower-income Calgarians with their pets.

It costs just 10 dollars to licence a cat if he or she is fixed and 30 dollars if they are in tact.

For more information, call 311 or visit the city's website. You can also apply for a cat licence online.

[Catlady711]

Honestly cat licensing seems like a good idea.

I wouldn't mind if they started requireing it in the states. Even though I have 8 cats and it would cost some $$, it not only raises money for animal control (which in our area, could drastically use it), but also make it easier to require some basic vaccinations like rabies or leukemia. If nothing else, like dogs, it would at least get them to the vet once in a while so we could help find health problems before they get to the point that euth. is the only option, for those that only visit the vet once every 10 years for E.R. calls. It would also help the cat owners in our area to take more responsibility for their cats.

[phesina]

Wow! That's fantastic. Thanks, Candace.

Pat

[catmandu]

I Wouldnt Like To Come Up With 120 Dollars, But I Would If It Was Going Towards Animal Control , And Nothing Else.

[Catty1]

It costs just 10 dollars to licence a cat if he or she is fixed and 30 dollars if they are in tact.

Gary - where did you see the $120 ???