CORNWALL, Ontario – The City of Cornwall voted in favour of a mandatory registry for owned cats at their meeting on Monday, June 22.
The registry, which would come into effect Feb. 1, 2021 would apply to all owned cats and would mirror the existing dog registry.
The registry is a part of an overhauled cat by-law aimed at controlling Cornwall’s cat population, particularly roaming cats.
In May of 2018, the Council received a report that had multiple recommendations including a subsidized spaying and neutering program for cats, a cat registry, and a policy that owned cats must stay indoors.
READ MORE: Proposed cat by-law: You feed it, you own it
Local organizations dedicated to the protection of cats and who have been actively involved in the control of the cat population has been petitioning Council for action on this issue for years.
These organizations will be named under the by-law as Approved Fostering Organizations which exempts them from certain aspects of the by-law, including the limit on number of cats that can be housed at one time as well as giving them access to the subsidized spay or neutering program.
Charles Bray, Interim Chief Building and By-Law Officer who wrote the report to Council said he expected it to be well received.
“I think that the goal is to try and spay and neuter as many cats as possible. I think it will be well received,” he said.
The cost to register a cat who has been spayed or neutered will be $25, and $50 for one who has not.
In the 2020 budget, Council set aside $40,000 to support the registry and spay and neutering program.
For example, there are currently over 3,500 dogs registered in Cornwall.
