Dog-eat-dog adoption for city’s cats
Felines abandoned by owners outnumber man’s best friend three to one, analysis finds
It’s a dog’s life for cats in Hogtown.
Felines are more likely than hounds to be given up by their owners and more likely to be euthanized at shelters, a Star analysis suggests.
Year after year, cats surrendered by their owners outnumber dogs three to one, according to data from Toronto Animal Services. Yet the city’s domestic cat population represents only 1.5 times the number of dogs. And the rate the animals are euthanized is often twice as high for cats as for dogs.
The numbers were obtained from the city’s Open Data portal and cover 2009 to 2014, when about 2,500 cats were surrendered by their owners.
According to the city’s latest data, there are about 25,000 licensed cats and about twice as many licensed dogs. Animal Services estimates about one-tenth of cats are licenced and one-third of dogs are, making the total domestic cat and dog populations roughly 250,000 and 160,000, respectively.
The high ratio for cats versus dogs given up to shelters was roughly the same for the last five years, though it hit a peak in 2013, with nearly four cats per dog surrendered by owners.
Animal Services senior manager Mary Lou Leiher said it is not clear why cat owners are giving up their pets more, but she noted it could be due to fewer cats being spayed and neutered than dogs.
“They end up with litters of kittens,” she said of the pet cats.
“This past week, we had to take 60 cats out of a one-bedroom apartment,” she added. “That happens more often than you think.”
Whatever the reason, the disproportionally high number of cats given up by their owners must join a crowded pound with stray cats which number about 1.5 times the number of domestic cats in Toronto.
Some years cats have a higher rate of being adopted, some years dogs. But the sheer number of cats being brought in means many more homeless cats than dogs, no matter their adoption rates.
At one point Friday there were almost 70 cats listed for adoption on Animal Services’ website, versus only four dogs.
And not every cat has its day. Last year, more than1,800 cats were euthanized, compared to just over 600 dogs. The vast majority were mercy-killing due to illness, injury, old age or behavioural issues, but for 66 cats last year, their reason for being put to sleep is listed as “orphaned.”
Leiher explained the animals were kittens who have lost their mother and are unable to survive on their own.
It’s a tough life for a cat, Leiher said, especially one in the wild.
Feral cats are often aggressive among themselves, leading to many so badly hurt they need to be put down.
“And when they fight, they do tend to get diseases like feline AIDS,” she said, but stresses the shelter accesses cats the best it can and puts them to sleep only as a last resort.
“A young, healthy cat — very, very unlikely that that would be euthanized.”
Leiher encouraged people to spay and neuter their cats — Animal Services has a program to help with that — to combat the overpopulation.
For a more short-term solution, Leiher recommends some dog owners give cats a try.
“There’re a lot of people who like both,” she said. “A cat is definitely lower-maintenance than a dog to keep. Therefore, if you have a dog, you might as well get a cat too.”
Dog owners are far more likely than cat owners to license their pets, causing the city to officially have more hounds than felines. By licensing numbers, every Toronto neighbourhood is dominated by dogs — except the area of Thorncliff Park and Flemingdon Park (approximately the area code that starts M4H), which officially has 63 cats and 61 dogs.
The place with the most dogs is the Beach and Upper Beach area, while cat owners cluster nearby in the eastern parts of East York and the Danforth.