A new cat bylaw will come to council for second and third reading next week and Mayor Dennis Cooper thinks it’ll likely be voted down.
During the Nov. 28 council meeting two petitions, one against the introduction of a new cat bylaw, and another against changes to the current dog bylaw, were deemed as not legally binding for not following all required standards outlined by the municipal government.
But Cooper said council is still taking into consideration the petitions because of the amount of people that signed both.
“Because we’ve got 465 or 455 names, that’s a lot of people that signed that petition and said I do not want a cat bylaw. When you look at the names that say I do not want one, you’ve got to listen to your residents. They didn’t do it legally, but people still read the comment on the top of each page saying they don’t want it.”
In total, 429 signed the cat petition, 423 the dog.
The new bylaw would limit the number of cats a person could own to three and would introduce an annual licensing fee of $50 a year or $25 if neutered.
“It’ll be withdrawn. I’m not saying it’s totally dead. I’m saying we learned a lesson and have to learn to communicate more.”
He said the main problems were the number of cats people could own, and the fee. “If those were both (changed) would there be a problem?” He said it will likely be put “on the back burner” so more research can be completed.
