Halifax council to scratch cat bylaw

Cats may get the last meow as the Halifax Regional council moved Tuesday night to scratch new rules that would require their owners to license them.

Councillors decided on Tuesday to delete all references to cats in a new animal control bylaw that was to take effect in April.

The requirement for cat licences and provisions to deal with nuisance felines were added to the bylaw in October after years of debate on the issue.

And council reversed that decision Tuesday night behind closed doors at an in-camera session held to discuss a proposed contract for new animal shelters to house cats running afoul of the bylaw.

When councillors emerged from the private meeting, they had decided to stay with the existing animal shelter and remove the cat provisions from the bylaw.

After the decision, Mayor Peter Kelly would only say that cost had been a factor in the decision.

"In that contract, we discussed dollars and, you know, the challenges with dollars in terms of a budgetary allocation," Kelly said.

The cost of implementing the bylaw, including setting up a new shelter, was estimated at $3.3 million.

The vote was 8-6 to scrap the bylaw, and Coun. David Hendsbee was left fuming.

He immediately asked council to reconsider the decision at next week's meeting and suggested councillors might need help from the public to sort it out.

"Perhaps it's time for this council to suspend further debate on this issue and go to the people on a plebiscite. Let the public decide. Should we have pet registration, yes or no? Should that include cats, yes or no?" Hendsbee said.

Meanwhile, council will have to hold another public meeting before it can change the animal control bylaw again. No date has been set.