Jessica Reese of SCAT Street Cat Rescue attended the September 6, 2022 Regular Council meeting in Martensville to request Council consider changing the ‘No Roaming at Large’ pet bylaw to allow SCAT, which is a registered charity organization, to perform TNRM (Trap, Neuter, Release, Manage) in Martensville city limits to help manage the feline overpopulation within the community.
Reese provided a presentation to Council which included background information about SCAT Street Cat Rescue, which has been operating within Saskatoon and area since 1996. Last year, SCAT took in 674 cats and kittens, and adopted out 644, with a total of 134 recorded pleas for help. Reese noted that they are on schedule to meet, or even exceed those pleases this year. Many of the pleas for help involve un-owned and abandoned cats.
The purpose of the TNRM is to humanely control the feline population by preventing unnecessary births. Through this process, cats at large would be sterilized, micro-chipped and tattooed for identification and data tracking purposes.
Two bylaw changes were proposed, one to the section regarding Cat and Dog Licenses, which SCAT is asking has an amendment to add a section regarding non-profit animal rescue/welfare organizations, and secondly, a request to modify the section regarding the Regulation and Control of Cats and Dogs at Large to allow any colony cat that is registered with the non-profit/welfare organization to be exempt from Part III regulation and Control of Cats and Dogs with all nuisance behavior to be mitigated by the non-profit animal rescue/welfare organization.
Paws Republic Centre for Pets currently houses all animals that are found at-large in the community until either the owner is found, or the animal is relocated to a rescue organization to be put up for adoption. In 2020, a total of 52 cats were recorded for intake, with the following year having 44 intakes recorded. This year, from January to July, a total of 45 cats were already taken in.
Council will review the information provided and bring it back for a formal decision at an upcoming meeting.
