Editor:
On a number of occasions over the years I have written to both the local council and Coast Reporter concerning the problem with cats in our area.
We are constantly chasing at least three different neighbourhood cats away from our premises. On a number of occasions we have found dead birds resulting from these visits.
About five years ago we started to have visits from the Eurasian ring doves, a beautiful bird. They had babies and soon we had regular visits from a family of six of these graceful creatures.
We have recently found the carcasses of three of them, obviously killed and mauled by cats, who do not eat their prey. They simply kill them for the sake of killing.
If this had been cougars taking people’s pets, there would soon be an outcry for the destruction of the cougars, but no one seems to care about the cats.
A visit to the Internet will soon inform anyone as to the massive numbers of birds being killed by an “out-of-control” cat population around the world. Do we really want to see the demise of the birds at the expense of a growing number of feral and pet cats?
Many municipalities have or are adopting cat bylaws, which is an attempt to keep these animals from roaming free, or at least making their owners responsible for their pets (we know of some who are very responsible).
When asking the local authority to do the same, one councillor virtually scorned the idea as being totally unenforceable, so nothing happened. How so? If dog owners are made to be responsible for their pets and obliged to keep them under control and clean up after them, why not cat owners?
Let’s take action before there are no longer any birds that are able to bring pleasure into our gardens.
Ralph Meyer, Sechelt
