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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

26 cats too many, woman told

By: Staff Writer

4/02/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 42

WINNIPEG city officials have ordered a resident to get rid of some of her 26 cats.

On Tuesday night, a committee turned down Nancy Swaine's request to bypass a law that only permits three cats and three dogs per household.

Neighbours complained about the smell of cats coming from her dryer vent.

Swaine said her pets are all spayed and neutered and she spends four hours a day cleaning her house.

She has been rescuing felines since 1997 and has spent about $100,000 on their care, she said.

At one time, there were about 80 cats living in the home.

Swaine said she is considering an appeal. "Maybe I will have to put them down, but I'm not really looking forward to it," she said.

-- Canwest News Service

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 4, 2010 A4

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42 Commentscomment icon

I, too, remember Bertha Rand (a woman with a big heart!) & I don't believe she had to 'get rid of' any of her furkids. Once cats are fixed, their urine doesn't normally smell badly, if at ALL, as long as litter boxes are cleaned out daily. People who are kind enough to devote such care to so many homeless & abandoned animals should NEVER be punished or forced to give up their charges. They should instead be helped through low-cost spay/neuter programs. Cats are always targeted more often as if they are 'pests' & pay too dearly for HUMANS' irresponsibility. That said, I can't even believe she'd CONSIDER having any of them killed off (never use those sanitized terms like "putting down" or "putting to sleep" - that's NOT what it really is!). It's possible she doesn't how to get them adopted out properly, though, & I'd think the Wpg. Humane Society could (& should) give her pointers on that process.

And penalizing, animal-restrictive bylaws are part of the problem in the first place! Once again, the animals pay for problems humans created themselves. Where are all the breeder-produced animals supposed to go then? Oh, I know -- let's just kill them all off as if they were nothing but trash.

I thought Wpg. had a bigger, smarter heart and head than this. For shame. Give this woman AND her furkids a break, or make those "city officials" sit & watch those poor cats be killed.

thats not fair, how is she supposed to decide who to keep and who to get rid of?? Its like 'Sophies Choice' these cats are her babies. with the money she spent on their care she could be living on a farm where she would have plenty of room to raise her cats. I thought the bylaw was 5 cats and 3 dogs?? There are plenty of families who smell worse, i see them on the bus all of the time, they should be forced to clean up and ship out the extra people from their stinky overpopulated homes.


Why isn't there an enforced cap on what a vet can charge for spaying and neutering? If this were in place there'd be so fewer unwanted animals out there. Let the vets charge whatever they want for other services, but animal control really needs a helpful hand from them too.

ErikW - It was neighbours who phoned in and complained. The city investigated and she was breaking the law.

The smell of cat urine of 26 cats would be atrocious! If I was a neighbour I'd complain every day until the cats were removed.

Can she not apply for a permit as a rescue shelter?
And to be perfectly honest...there are families who over populate the spaces they rent. They exceed what might be considered a safe and sanitary occupancy but nothing is said. Ugggh....can't stand nosy neighbors with nothing better to do.

If the city really cared about odours offending residents they would go in with a bulldozer and tear down the mushroom plant on Mission St. The smells from that place are diabolical!

Well, back in the 70s, Winnipeg had the original cat lady: Bertha Rand. I imagine she passed on years ago but I think she had more than 26 in her home.

so not fair, so did a few no kill shelters have that many people in their house till they opened up a shelter. and the HS should be paying for all the spaying and neutering. tell the lady she qualifies for 25.00 spay and neutering catch and release program at the HS. they dont like to tell you that, as they prefer you pay full price. but thats the deal, yes i catch poor abandoned cats and get them needled and fixed for only 25.00 at HS. ITS NOT THE CATS FAULT!!!!! ITS THE PEOPLES FAULT. i now have another stray living under my house and 2 weeks ago i just caught 2 cats. people dump them, fine the owners.

I saw this lady on the news a few nights ago, she seemed like that she had good intentions but the lack of space/room is definitely an issue. Not to mention you HAVE to think about your neighbours.

I have two cats at home and sometimes the litter box from the two of them is absolutely putrid so I can only imagine how bad it smells with 26!

For the suggestion of dropping them off to no kill shelters, they are ALWAYS completely full plus more. Winnipeg really needs to get like some other cities and take control of the pet population.

@EricW: I only meant the humaine society would like to take them because they wont have to front the cost of fixing them. Sorry I should have been more clear. I suport your argument.

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