Councillors de-fur decision on cat licensing to December meeting

KITCHENER — City council wasn’t persuaded this week about whether Kitchener should study the merits of licensing cats.

Coun. Frank Etherington introduced a motion Monday to have city staff research a cat-licence system and hold a series of educational public meetings on the issue.

But council balked at the potentially provocative issue, which could affect tens of thousands of people in the city.

Kitchener doesn’t know exactly how many cats there might be in the city, but bylaw enforcement director Gloria MacNeil told council it’s estimated that about one-third of the city’s 92,200 households own one or more cats, which could mean there are at least 57,000 cats in the city. That doesn’t include an estimated 15,000 feral cats, which live outdoors with little human contact and can’t be adopted as pets.

There are an estimated 50,000 dogs in Kitchener, 16,000 of which are licensed.

Etherington argued that requiring cat licences was only fair, since cats make up about half the work at the humane society and about half of all strays.

Several cities, including Calgary, Stratford and Guelph, already license cats, he noted. Cities that license cats say the licence fees help pay the cost of the animal shelter, and the licence makes it much easier to reunite owners with lost pets.

MacNeil said researching the issue would be a major undertaking, requiring significant public consultation. “Any time the city is considering anything to do with putting restrictions on animals, there’s a large amount of public interest, with very strong views on both sides,” she said.

After discussing the issue for about an hour, council opted to refer the matter to a meeting on Dec. 4, when council will vote on the business plan for the city, which maps out staff priorities for the next term of council.