WELFARE - Where are all the Cats?

An encouraging trend for cat lovers indicates that feline populations in shelters have been on the general decline in recent years.

While the trend is apparent in areas in both Canada and the U.S., shelters continue to report there is far more work to be done and some areas continue to face burgeoning cat populations – including the Calgary Humane Society (CHS) in Calgary, Alberta.

“The economy is hitting everybody hard, but in Alberta we are right in that oil and gas bubble where there have been massive layoffs and many people forced to downsize or move (out of province) to find work,” explained Sage Pullen McIntosh, spokesperson for the CHS.

The shelter ran an adoption campaign at the end of June, waiving fees for cats older than seven months to help free up space in their overcrowded cat corridors.

While Pullen McIntosh said that their intake was up 185 cats by June 28 of 2016, compared to intake at the same time in 2015, these numbers were not impacted by the early June Ft. MacMurray wildfire dubbed as ‘The Beast’; the shelter did provide emergency boarding for animals from the northern community hard hit by the raging fire, but has since reunited all animals but one cat with their owners.

From Jan. 1-June 28, 2016, the CHS has admitted 2,770 animals, of which 1690 were cats.

Pullen-McIntosh said the information they have gathered from people who surrender their pets (although stray and abandoned cat intake numbers have also risen) indicate job loss, moving and other effects of a downturn in the economy over the last year or so have been the biggest reasons for giving up their pet.

In other areas, however, the combination of improved adoption programs, public education and prevention campaigns and responsible pet ownership seem to be bringing overall shelter cat numbers down and adoptions up.

“We have definitely seen a steady decrease of cat populations in our shelters over the last few years… But overall reduction really isn’t that drastic. We still have much work to do,” said Mary Lou Leiher, who works as a program manager for Toronto Animal Services and is also the president of the Association of Animal Shelter Administrators of Ontario (AASAO).

The AASAO is a unique organization that is an ‘affiliation of professionals committed to excellence in the management and operation of animal care, control and welfare organizations’.

Leiher credits the general reduction from AASAO member shelters, including the City of Toronto and the Ottawa Humane Society, to a number of factors, such as ongoing public education campaigns; successful prevention programs such as the City of Toronto’s CHIP truck for microchipping, licensing and rabies and the SNYP truck for mobile spaying/neutering programs; improved adoption programs through shelters; and the trendiness of choosing to adopt rather than buy from a breeder.

“Shelters have also changed their adoption practices. We understand it’s better to educate people rather than turn them down…people will just go somewhere else if you won’t work with them and then you’ve lost that connection,” explained Leiher.

“If you don’t like the answer, change the conversation.”

These stats of increased adoptions and lowered intake rates of shelter cats are further evidenced by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

According to Dr. Emily Weiss, this notion of ‘changing the conversation’ and working with families and individuals looking to adopt pets, rather than turning away people who may otherwise look to less favourable solutions to obtain a pet (puppy mills) has been key to the overall decrease in areas such as New England.

Weiss made note of the American Pet Product Association’s (APPA) pet owners survey where the data shows some significant changes in where people obtain their cats today compared to ten years ago.

By Lindsay Seewalt

Lindsay is an experienced journalist and mother of three whose heart and home is always open to a four-legged friend. With her Corgi, Angie, as household editor-in-chief, Lindsay gives back to the animal planet through the written word on anything and all ado about pets. She is passionate about topics regarding animal welfare and responsible pet ownership, which she aims to instill in both her readers and children to be compassionate animal lovers who are conscious and considerate that furry friends around the globe deserve a voice.

Despite Breed Ban, Toronto Dog Bites Increase

(bestfriends.org)

Despite a breed-based ban culminating in a dramatic drop in the number of pit bull type dogs in Ontario, reported cases of canine bites has increased.

In Toronto, for instance, there were 576 bites in 2004 (a year before the ban) and 767 in 2014, Global News recently reported.

The numbers are not what those who backed the ban would have predicted. 

Indeed, then-Attorney General Michael Bryant, assured the ban was “the beginning of the end of the reign of terror, imposed by pit bulls” and would “over time” mean “fewer pit pull attacks.”

Now, however, the question illustrated by Global News remains – if almost all the pit bulls are gone, why do dog bite numbers continue to climb?

Parkdale-High Park MPP Cheri DiNovo, says it is because the problem was never with pit bulls. “I’m not surprised at all by those statistics,” she told Global. “I would think they were inevitable.”

Under the ban, four breeds often all referred to a'pit bulls' (pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers, Staffordshire bull terriers and American pit bull terriers) had to be kept muzzled or leashed in public and sterilized within two months of its passage and it became illegal to breed the dogs or import them into the province.

There are now just over 300 pit bulls in Ontario compared with more than 1,400 about a decade ago – and in theory, pit bulls should cease to exist in Toronto by 2020.

But as pit bull numbers dwindle, dog bites have continued to climb since 2012. In Toronto, bites hit the highest levels recorded this century in 2013 and 2014.

That is because other dogs do the biting.

In 2014, German shepherds, labs, and Rottweilers were among the top offenders along with little dogs including Jack Russell terriers, shih tzus and Maltese.

Some believe breed-based bans are a practical ploy to improve public safety.

While others, like Teegan Buckingham, with the Toronto Humane Society, say it has punished a particular breed - the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association estimating the law, by 2012, had led to more than 1,000 of the demonized dogs and puppies with no history of violence being euthanized. “We would love to see the pit bull ban lifted,” Buckingham told Global.

DiNovo favours a system similar to Calgary where officials have seen a dramatic drop in bites since the 1980s without a breed-based ban but by promoting education of dog owners, children and strict enforcement.

Bill Bruce, Calgary's animal services director at the time, spoke before an Ontario government committee several years after it imposed its ban to debunk beliefs it would mean less bites.

“What we did learn is that when you do ban a breed, of course, the bites go down for that specific breed; that’s no surprise,” Bruce told the committee. “If there are fewer of them, there are fewer opportunities. But what we found is that bites tend to go up dramatically in other breeds. Any dog, again, can bite, and it’s coming back on the owner to make that determination if a dog is safe or not.”

Dr. Dale Scott, president of the Ontario Veterinary Association at the time, told the committee breed-based bans do not work because they are based on incorrect assumptions not backed by scientific research - “that only certain breeds are dangerous and that all dogs that belong to those breeds are dangerous.”

By Nadia Moharib

Nadia Moharib is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.

The Regional Summit Cross Canada Tour set for April.

The 6th Annual Regional Summits of the Canadian Companion Animal Industry are set for April.  The map shows the location and date most convenient for each delegate.  


The 2012 edition of the Regional Summits brings forward a new format that gathers input from National Issues as well as reports on the National Conversations and Surveys that are underway.


Among those featured in the 2012 Summits are these:

• Sources of Urban Dogs and Cats
• Breeder Certification Program
• Research on Surrender and Abandonment
• YourSAY Report - Canadian Kennel Club
• YourSAY Report - Corporate Animal Health
• 20/20 Summary - The Proactive Consumer
• National Companion Animal Coalition/National Action Group
• Collaboration activities in each region

Fifty (50) seats have been reserved for each region. Delegates are invited to 'get the facts, have their say and move the industry'.  Registration is $250 including meals, breaks and hospitality. 


The Iams Early Bird Coupon contributes $100 to delegates registering prior to March 7th.  Contact Judi Cannon 705.930.7387 or click on Iams VIP to register.

Toronto Auditor reports on city licensing

City's pet licensing system is a hairy mess

City's pet licensing system is a hairy mess. Coconut, left, and Marley play in the Sorauren Park dog park on a recent Saturday afternoon. File photo/NICK KOZAK

According to a report from the city's auditor general's office, Toronto is a very bad city when it comes to enforcing its bylaw requiring that dogs and cats carry licenses.

But auditor general Jeff Griffiths differs with KPMG, which recommended scrapping the controversial licensing fees, and is advising the city's audit committee to get more aggressive in making the city's pet owners compliant with the bylaw.

Currently, the city is collecting licensing fees for just 30 per cent of dogs and 10 per cent of cats owned by Torontonians. Toronto Animal Services estimate by the end of the year, that number will have risen to 11 per cent for cats and 33 per cent for dogs.

"These targets are extremely modest and if achieved will increase revenues by approximately $300,000," wrote Griffiths in the report heading to the Nov. 23 audit committee meeting. "This amount of revenue will likely cover inflationary cost increases only. In our view, a much more aggressive target projection should be established."

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