-Carswell opposed to cat bylaw, calls it 'lawsuit waiting to happen'-
OSOYOOS TIMES-January 30, 2008-
By Chad IngramrnOsoyoos Times
The Town of Osoyoos is putting together a bylaw that will allow bylaw officers to catch, detain and, if necessary, arrange for the destruction of feral cats within town boundaries.
The idea for the bylaw stems from a number of complaints received by Osoyoos councillors regarding a residential property near Peanut Pond that has reportedly become overrun with stray cats.
Coun. Dick Flintoft said he has received numerous complaints and made several visits to the site to see the cats.
They're all wild as heck and nobody wants them, Flintoft said. He said residents in the area see the cats as a health and safety hazard since the animals have no shots, leave feces everywhere and are presumably hungry.
He said some of the cats are missing limbs.
It's too full and the cats on this property are not being looked after, Flintoft said, adding that he believes the 18 or 20 cats that now occupy the property are the descendants of two house cats abandoned there in the last year. He is worried that those 18 or 20 cats may soon grow to a population of 60 or 70.
The cats are now getting to the age where they are going to reproduce, Flintoft said. They're spraying everywhere.
Flintoft said that a town employee had contacted the Penticton SPCA about the problem and that the animal-control organization said it was unable to do anything about the supposed cat infestation.
However, the manager of the SPCA's Penticton branch said that while the organization did not have the funding or the manpower to assist in capturing the cats, it would try to accommodate any of the stray animals that are healthy and not too vicious.
Osoyoos town councillors first announced their intention to draw up the bylaw at a meeting Jan. 21. While the bylaw came before councillors for first, second and third readings at a special meeting Jan. 28, council decided it should be reworked and revisited at a later meeting.
Coun. Allan Carswell, who had been absent from the Jan. 21 meeting, expressed strong opposition to the drafted bylaw.
I don't like it in any way shape or form, he said.
Carswell took issue with a provision that would restrict the number of cats Osoyoos residents could own to two and another that would allow the town bylaw officers to euthanize cats at their own discretion.
If we have a feral cat issue, let's deal with the feral cats, Carswell said.
He said he found it unfair to be dictating the number of pets residents could own and that euthanization is not an enterprise the Town of Osoyoos should be getting involved with.
Carswell insisted that feral cats which will not be accepted by the SPCA should be taken to a vet who could do a professional assessment of their condition and perform any necessary euthanizations.
He also addressed the hypothetical situation of someone's pet cat being mistakenly taken for a stray or feral cat.
This thing is a lawsuit waiting to happen, Carswell said.
While the other councillors recognized Carswell's points, they expressed the need to move forward on what is becoming a health and safety issue as soon as possible.
The bylaw will be reworked to address the concerns brought up at the Jan. 28 meeting. The new draft will remove the clauses limiting Osoyoos pet-owners to two cats each while it will call for any euthanizations to be performed by a vet.
The bylaw will also require a holding period of 48 hours where citizens could come forward to claim any apprehended cats.
The reworked bylaw could be read within the next several days if a special meeting is called. Otherwise, the bylaw is scheduled to go before council at its regular meeting Feb. 4.
