Editor:
As I watch the wonderful array of birds active in our garden and our neighbour’s yard, I feel it is long overdue to start the process of writing a cat bylaw.
The other day I watched as one local cat was clearly in hunting mode in our neighbour’s yard. Another day our backyard was filled with shrieking robins and it took a few minutes to recognize the source: a cat was walking away with one of their family.
Gibsons wouldn’t be a leader as various cat bylaws are in place in other towns. I would love to see the town move towards a point where cats aren’t just let out loose with all the subsequent carnage associated with that.
It seems that cat bells are a waste of time in preventing cats from killing birds but colourful cat collars (search: “colourful cat collars bird deterrent”) are much more effective. I would hope that any responsible cat owner would do this at the very least.
I have had cats and dogs in my life and so my thoughts are coming from a place of love of our birds rather than a dislike of cats. It is long overdue to start the retraining process for both cats and their owners.
Alan Sirulnikoff, Gibsons