2009 Summit ReCap: Cats Our Biggest Opportunity

Highlights from the Panel Discussion at the 2009 Summit

The panel discussion on the last day of the National Alumni Summit For Urban Animal Strategies always provides opportunity for lively discussion and information sharing. In effort to remind alumni of the importance of this dialogue -- and to keep these topics top of mind -- here are a few powerful quotes excerpted from the session:

On the issue of cat licensing:

"It is an urban myth that cats can't wear collars and tags. This often comes up in community discussions about municipal cat licensing. It shouldn't be a factor [in whether or not a licensing program should be mandated]. In Calgary, [for example], if a cat is tattooed or micro-chipped they don't have wear the cat license... but they do have to be licensed.
"

Bill Bruce ~ City of Calgary

On the issue of restricting the number of cats/dogs per household:

“The reason we don’t do this [in Calgary] is that if you are a responsible pet owner [how many pets you have] is none of the government’s business. Some municipalities do this because they think it will alleviate hoarding. This does not work.”
Bill Bruce ~ City of Calgary Animal and Bylaw Services


“We also grappled with this. Our response was that to impose a limit [on the number of owned animals] shows that we don’t believe that our responsible pet ownership programs work. Instead, we emphasize that if someone is responsible, they could have 15 pets and no one would know it! What has to be factored into this equation is that hoarding is a psychological issue, not a compliance issue.”

James Wilke ~ City of Saskatoon Animal Services

For more information on Cats: Our Biggest Opportunity, NASUAS alumni are encouraged to log onto the 'Members only' section of tsuas.com.