City content despite low cat-licensing rate

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/03/2015 (4075 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While the vast majority of Winnipeg’s cats remain unlicensed outlaws, a city official says he’s pleased by the public’s response to date.

There are now 13,000 licensed cats in Winnipeg under the city’s nearly three-month-old bylaw.

However, the city’s animal services chief operating officer says getting tags on nearly 10 per cent of the city’s estimated household cat population of 150,000 is encouraging given the bylaw was introduced Jan. 1.

“I’m excited and grateful,” Leland Gordon told the Free Press. “You never know how people are going to react. I think people understand. They’re buying into it.

“At the end of the day, more people’s cats will be protected. That’s a great thing.”

Licences cost $15 for cats that are spayed or neutered and $50 for those that aren’t. Since the vast majority of licences purchased are of the $15 variety, Leland said current revenue will be about $200,000.

Half the revenue will fund animal services, while the other 50 per cent, with almost $100,000 in the kitty to date, will be distributed to non-profit organizations and veterinarians for a spay-and-neuter program later this year.

“That’s awesome,” Gordon noted. “We all hate it when we hear about cats being euthanized at the humane society. That’s what this is about. At the end of the day — maybe five years from now — I’d like to see the euthanization trending downward.”

The Winnipeg Humane Society takes in about 6,000 stray cats each year, and 2,500 of those are euthanized.

Opponents have called the bylaw a cash grab. Cat owners who say their pets never leave the house argue they don’t need tags. Thousands of owners say they can’t afford to spay or neuter cats in the first place, much less an annual $15 licence.

Still, Brenda Jones, the shelter manager of D’Arcy’s A.R.C. animal rescue, said she was “shocked” by the number of cat owners coming in to purchase licences.

“We couldn’t even keep up after Jan. 1 kicked in,” Jones said. “They came of their own volition. I was pleasantly surprised. In fact, I’ve got to go (to animal services) and get more licences tomorrow. We’re running out.

“A lot of people are afraid of the fine,” she added. “They were panicked. I don’t hear that too often with dogs.”

The fine for an unlicensed cat is $250.

Jones wasn’t surprised the overwhelming bulk of owners have either not yet been motivated to purchases licences or never will be.

“They’re questioning where the money is going. They want proof,” she said. “I think it’s going to take a while.”

Gordon said once the cost of administration for the licences is subtracted (veterinarians get a five dollar commission for licences sold at clinics), the data are registered and the tags mailed to the owner, there’s no windfall for animal services.

“It’s not like we’re swimming in money,” he said.

Gordon noted when a similar cat bylaw was introduced in Edmonton, 30,000 licences were purchased in the first year.

About half of the estimated 112,000 dogs in Winnipeg are licensed by their owners.

Gordon said a cat-licensing rate of 50 per cent would be considered both successful and realistic.

Cat licences can be acquired on the city website, by calling 311 or visiting most veterinary clinics or the city’s animal services agency.

Gordon said proposals for spay-and-neuter programs will be accepted through the City of Winnipeg later this year. The money will be dispersed by the end of the year, and the programs will be monitored for application and effectiveness. The same process will be repeated each year.

“The goal is to fix as many cats as possible, simple as that,” he said.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca