Operation Turnaround will tackle cat control from a new angle.
Earlier this week, Sylvan Lake town council approved spending $7,000 to help defray costs of a pilot program aimed at changing people’s attitudes while taking 100 unowned cats off the streets and finding new homes for them over the course of 100 days.
Educational aspects of the program are already underway, including creation of a public forum on Facebook where people can see what is happening, ask questions and raise issues, says animal control officer Jim deBoon, owner of Klassic Kennels.
The basis of the program is not just to take some cats off the street, but to create new attitudes among people who believe it is acceptable to let them to run free and breed at will, deBoon said.
“If you do look at the statistics in so many cities in Canada and Alberta and North America, we’re killing millions of animals every year on purpose. We’re spending gross amounts of money and all we’re doing, every year, is pushing back this wave of cats and we’re not helping them or ourselves or addressing the financial issue,” he said.
Cats allowed to roam free create a nuisance in the neighbourhood and, on average, live much shorter and less comfortable lives than those that are kept inside, said deBoon.
Cats that remain sexually intact are capable of reproducing at incredible rates, he said.
The physical work in Operation Turnaround begins on Feb. 28. Traps will be set every Monday in key areas to catch loose cats.
Those that are properly licensed and wearing their tags will be returned to the owners that day.
“This one’s a freebie,” said deBoon, explaining that owners of any licensed cats caught more than once will be fined in accordance with the town’s cat bylaw, enacted earlier this year.
He is working with three local cat rescue societies to deal with strays and feral cats caught in the traps.
The plan is that each society will make arrangements with 10 foster homes that can take two cats each until they can be adopted.
Unlicensed cats will be taken to the rescue centres and held until Friday.
That will give the operators sufficient time to determine which cats are feral and which are strays, said deBoon.
Sick and feral cats will be put down while healthy strays will be spayed or neutered and then sent to foster homes to await adoption.
The money town council approved earlier this week will be used to provide veterinary care for the strays, including the costs of spaying and neutering.
A key component in trapping the cats will be to find volunteers who live nearby and are willing to monitor the traps, ensuring that the animals are picked up promptly, said deBoon.
Once the 100-day program has wrapped up, he will watch his own statistics to see if the program has actually had an impact.
Statistical comparisons performed at the end of 2011 will show whether the program actually made a difference.
“If we have, then we can scale that program to any community of any size,” he said.
Facebook users can search for Klassic Kennels to follow Operation Turnaround online.
bkossowan@www.reddeeradvocate.com