Lapses in system of responsibility lead to bad situations
Fixing Feral Felines is a local group dedicated to helping reduce the overpopulation of stray and feral cats. Veronica Walsh, coordinator of Fixing Feral Felines says that there are areas where municipal and provincial governments can work together to enact better regulations to help animals and urges residents to let governments know about lapses in the current system.
“By educating people and telling them what the challenges are, and how change can be made, and that there’s support for those changes to be made, then hopefully people will say, okay, I can be part of that,” said Walsh.
With the weather turning cooler Walsh says that people start to worry about outside animals surviving the winter and so now is the time to talk about how governments can work to help reduce overpopulation before the harsh weather comes.
“The municipality is responsible for animal control. That means when the animal is causing the problem or the animal is a nuisance, or barking or wandering, or whatever, the municipality can or may choose to set up my laws to cover those situations,” said Walsh.
She says that part of the problem is that there are municipalities in this province that have laws that deal with dogs on the loose and causing issues but do not have the same rules for cats. This does not apply to all municipalities but those without these bylaws can’t step in if there is a cat overpopulation problem or other issue. Other municipalities may have bylaws but they may not cover all circumstances.
“The province is in charge of animal care through what is called the Animal Care Act under the Province of Manitoba Department of Agriculture. The province is supposed to deal with those situations where animals are being abused, neglected or abandoned or hoarded to the point where the animals are sick and the provincial Animal Care Act covers the whole province,” said Walsh.
She explained that she lives close to a municipal border line and because of different regulations, it can mean that on one side of the border road a cat will get help and on the other, it does not.
Fixing Feral Felines isn’t a fostering group but a group that helps with the prevention of overpopulation by helping support spaying and neutering pet information and by letting people know what resources are available to them to help.
Situations can be as simple as a pregnant stray cat not being able to be picked up and with cats being able to increase their population quickly, it becomes a problem in a local area. Citizens then have the issue of trying to find out what entity to call to deal with the situation and in some places, there is no way of handling the issue until the cats are sick.
“That’s really why there’s a need for ongoing education. I see on Facebook, sometimes a thread where somebody’s calling around and other people are saying ‘Call the animal care line,’ and the other people are saying, ‘Call a rescue,’. It is very confusing because it’s complicated,” said Walsh.
She worries about situations where people are given the runaround and eventually give up leaving the cats in an unsafe situation.
A recent example that she’s heard about was when a person passed away and the outside cats that they were feeding were no longer being cared for. The neighbours tried to call the municipality but were told they had no cat bylaws. They then called the province but because the cats weren’t left inside and trapped it wasn’t considered a situation in which they felt it was under their purview to intervene.
“The laws are so vague. The laws are so old, and the laws have been poorly implemented for years. Animals don’t have any protection when it comes down to reality,” said Walsh.
She hopes that by contacting governments both provincial and local representatives can make changes that will cover the cracks in the current system. Currently, this work is being left to volunteer foster groups and organizations like hers to help and they are being overwhelmed with the need and do not have ongoing financial support options.
Walsh encourages those who are interested in letting their voices be heard to join a group that will be getting together outside of the legislature on Sept. 23 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. to let the politicians know this is an important issue.
“It’s all about encouraging people, to get involved to speak up to do what they can to educate their politicians that change needs to happen. That’s the important part of all of this. Rescues are not going to solve the problem. . .We’re so busy bailing the boat that we don’t have time to fix the holes. We need the support of the politicians and the community to fix the holes in the mess and to do the prevention,” said Walsh.
To contact Fixing Feral Felines on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/people/Fixing-Feral-Felines/100083359657758/, by email at fffelines@gmail.com and by phone at 204-803-0855.
If there is an urgent animal crisis taking place contact the province’s animal care line at 204-945-8000 (Toll Free 1-888-945-8001).
