“If you love your cat, keep Fluffy inside.”
Those were the words of Scarborough City ecologist and ex-councilor Glenn De Baeremaeker at Toronto City Hall on Wednesday as a city committee discussed a plan that could ban cat owners from allowing cats to go freely to the outdoors.
The motion, introduced by District 17 – Don Valley North Shelley Carroll, is rooted in the belief that outdoor cats can be a danger to local ecosystems, hunt bird populations and rodents, and they run the risk of being hit by vehicles or attacked by wildlife while roaming.
Currently, city staff is proposing that the statutes be amended to prohibit pet owners from allowing their pet to roam “freely” around the city, with the exception of domesticated cats and pigeons. Carroll wants to eliminate cats from the proposed change, while allowing pigeons to remain free. According to the proposed statute, outdoor acts with a strap would still be allowed.
Members of the city council of the city’s economic and community development commission voted in favor of the free-hand motion.
“I’m moving [this motion] today because I really think people don’t want free cats, “Carroll said.” It’s terribly traumatic when you find a cat that has been met with misfortune. “
However, the amendment to the statutes has not received final approval. It was not included in Wednesday’s staff report that it presented possible changes to the rules in the city’s municipal code chapter dealing with animals and would still need majority city council support before it could take effect. The Council plans to discuss the issue in two weeks.
Toronto Wildlife Center executive director Nathalie Karvonen was in attendance to speak on the issue Wednesday.
Addressing the committee, Kavonen cited a 2013 study by Environment Canada researchers that stated that about 200 million birds are killed by cats in Canada each year. He said outdoor cats are a “massive problem” for wildlife in the Toronto area.
By contrast, Carleton Grant, executive director of the city’s licensing and standards division, said he did not believe the plan was feasible, calling it “impossible” and “problematic.”
The current statutes allow the city to confiscate cats that are causing damage or creating nuisance.
ARE CATS AN INVASIVE SPECIES?
Andrew Holland, a spokesman for the Nature Conservancy of Canada, told CTV News Toronto on Thursday that domestic cats are considered one of the 100 most invasive species in the world.
“After habitat loss, cats are the main human reason for bird loss,” Holland said in a statement. “It is estimated that more than 2.6 billion birds are lost annually in Canada and the United States to be killed by cats.”
Holland says keeping the cat inside and using a leash when outdoors is a “small but important” conservation effort.
If your cat requires a higher level of enrichment, he recommends building a “catio” (a cat yard), which is an enclosed outdoor space that allows cats to remain content outdoors.