'Double standards' for cats and dogs have Sherwood Park woman fuming

Tracy Irwin set the cat among the pigeons this week when she posted a rant about animal bylaws on several local community Facebook pages.

"What kind of insane double standards are pet and home owners going to continue to tolerate?" the Sherwood Park woman asked Wednesday on the social media site, complaining about the different bylaws for cats and dogs.

"Why do cat owners get away with allowing their pets to not be under their control and supervision at all times like a dog owner? Why are they not held accountable for their pets' behaviour too, as it was their choice to choose that kind of pet?"

Irwin said she's a cat lover — and a former cat owner — but always keeps her pets under supervision and control.

Her Facebook comments sparked a debate that was still raging a day after her initial post, with many saying they support her argument.

"Even people who had cats said that people should be held responsible," she said, "because it was their choice to get that kind of animal."

'Local park being used as a big litter box'

Irwin, who often has young children at her home, told CBC News that cats are an ongoing issue where she lives, near a park in the Glen Allan neighbourhood.

"Mostly the local park being used as a big litter box,"she said. "There are various cats that come into my yard on a regular basis. They terrorize my dog. They spray urine on everything in the yard including furniture, barbecues, the house itself.

"They poop on everything, including sidewalks and the deck. They are just a general nuisance for killing small animals. I find dead birds or mice in the yard almost every day."

'They get lumps, and it's not sand'

"We actually stopped going to the park because [kids] can't play safely in there," said Irwin. "They're trying to dig with shovels and pails and every time they dig they get lumps, and it's not sand."

Animal bylaws differ from city to city in Alberta. 

In Strathcona County, which includes Sherwood Park, there is no cat bylaw but traps are available to help people deal with nuisance animals.

In Edmonton, cat owners are required to make sure their pets don't wander onto other people's property without permission, but otherwise they're free to roam. Edmonton also lends cat traps.

In Calgary, cats must remain on the owner's property and the city loans traps. Leduc strongly recommends keeping cats indoors but it's not required. Traps are available.

Fines for bylaw infractions vary from city to city. In Edmonton, licensed cats that roam are eligible for one free ride home each year, without their owners being fined.

'Cats are allowed to roam off property'

Rules for dogs are more strict because dogs pose a greater risk to public safety, said Keith Scott, coordinator of animal control with the City of Edmonton.

"The real difference between the two is that cats are allowed to roam off property as long as it's on public property, but they can't go on to someone else's private property," Scott said.

"Dogs do attack, they do bite, and cats rarely do. They would rather run away. However, they do cause a nuisance."

The city handles about 5,000 cat-related files each year, Scott said. Issues range from strays and unlicensed felines to cats that kill songbirds.

Between 10 and 20 per cent of calls about cats are about them being off their owners' property. On average the city loans out traps 200 times a year.

But Irwin feels trapping unfairly forces the complainant to deal with the owner's problem.

"I have not tried to trap a cat yet," she said. "[On Facebook] I was trying to see if other people had other ideas or opinions."