Advocates sound alarm over eastern Ontario stray cat population

Volunteer groups are renewing calls for municipalities in eastern Ontario and western Quebec to do more to fund feline spay and neuter clinics.

Several groups say they want support for low-income households to get cats sterilized, along with increased funding for shelters.

Patricia Bracelin has been rescuing stray cats since she retired in 2009 and is the sole operator of Operation Spay and Neuter in Hawkesbury, Ont. The operation helps find homes for abandoned cats and offers low-cost spay and neuter options for owners. 

Bracelin said she receives several calls each day about abandoned cats.

"It's turning into a dumping ground on the outskirts of town," she told Radio-Canada.

While the town told Radio-Canada the cat population has not reached an alarming level, local shelters disagree — and say it's an issue that's affecting communities in both eastern Ontario and the Outaouais.

Pandemic pets, lack of regulation 

Tanya Ursual, a former volunteer for Lanark Animal Welfare Society (LAWS) and Furry Tales, a rescue based in Smiths Falls, Ont., has been tracking cat populations in eastern Ontario since 2003.

She said overpopulation is likely due to people who got pets during COVID-19 lockdowns and now lack the time, knowledge or resources to care for them.

"It takes a lot of effort and commitment," she said. "There isn't an understanding about that."

Implementing requirements for pet registration in smaller towns, not just in large cities like Ottawa, could be a path toward a solution, she said.

She pointed to how some countries in Europe require sterilization and microchips as ideas local communities could follow.

Furry Tales wrapped up an adoption-week promotion Sunday, where they lowered adoption fees in an attempt to make room for more strays.

Its owner, Donna Macrae, said they receive 10 to 20 calls a day for help from owners and people who find strays.

The organization currently has more than 150 cats in care, which Ursual said is high for mid-summer as kitten season usually peaks in the spring.

Overpopulation an issue across eastern Ontario

According to Coun. Dawn Quinn, Smiths Falls has been trying to get a handle on feline overpopulation for months.

She said many cats congregate around the CP Rail yard, but because it's private property, the city has been waiting months to do an official count.

"We figured that there's likely 60 or 70 feral cats running around Smiths Falls at the moment," said Quinn, adding that dozens more have been picked up by LAWS and Furry Tales.

It's not the first time volunteer groups have called for support: last year, Furry Tales told CBC Radio's All In A Day it was overrun with strays in Smiths Falls and Ottawa.

The City of Ottawa's spay and neuter clinic was set up in 1978 to deal with the stray cat and dog population. It has one vet and one operating room, so it can only manage about 15 to 20 surgeries each day.

From 2018 to 2022, the clinic sterilized 5,472 cats. Between 2021 and 2023, almost seven times that number were performed across two community clinics in Lanark, Leeds and Grenville and Trenton, according to data from Furry Tales.

The heartbreak doesn't stop.- Patricia Bracelin

"There is no excuse for the City of Ottawa spay/neuter service to be so far behind in meeting the needs of the community," Macrae said in a press release issued in her organization's 2023 call to action.

According to the website for the Ottawa Humane Society (OHS), the spay and neuter clinic has paused operations. The organization does not provide a date when the clinic will reopen to the public.

"With a high number of animals coming into the OHS, we have redeployed staff to ensure we are meeting the needs of the animals in our care," the page reads.

CBC reached out to the OHS but did not receive a response.

Until support from municipalities is increased or shelters can get a handle on the animal population, Bracelin said cats will continue to stay on the streets, often starving to death.

"The heartbreak doesn't stop."