By Jessica Hellen
In an effort to improve the lives of cats in the community, the Ottawa Humane Society has kicked off its 2005 cat awareness campaign called the Year of the Cat.
The campaign is aimed at fostering responsible cat ownership, improving cat health and increasing return-to-owner statistics.
Bruce Roney, executive director of the Ottawa Humane Society, said new programs will be introduced, including teaching adults and children about the care basics and special needs of cats, conducting research about wild cats and increasing staff training.
Education will focus on raising community awareness about cases of cat neglect and abuse in order to protect the cats and create a public consciousness about the issue.
The cat awareness campaign is extremely important as only 5.5 per cent of cats were returned to their owners in 2004, compared to 65 per cent of dogs, said Sharon Miko, outreach manager at the Ottawa Humane Society.
The rest of the cats that are brought to the shelter are assessed in terms of their health and adoptability and then put in a stray ward for at least three days. The cats are then either placed in foster homes for later adoption or in the adoption ward.
“If for health reasons or temperament reasons they are not adoptable and we don’t perceive that we could get them there, then they would be euthanized,” Miko said.
Roney said over the past few decades major changes have been made in dog care and welfare.
“You do not see, thankfully, dogs wandering the streets, we do not see feral dogs and we do not have litter upon litter of puppies brought to our door,” he said.
“Cats are regularly allowed to wander without identification or protection from illness. Cats are too often simply dumped when owners no longer want them. Many do not receive veterinary care and many owners don’t know the basics of cat care.”
The shelter will focus on improving its in-house services by assessing the emotional needs of the cats while they are in the shelter.
Cardboard hide-and-perch boxes and a pheromone program have already been introduced to decrease cat stress, which Miko said often leads to illness.
“Because stress is a significant factor in a cat’s ability to remain healthy, we expect to see significantly less disease among the cats in our shelter over the coming year,” Roney said.
Other plans for the campaign include targeting cat owners for cat-specific microchip clinics to increase the cat claim rate, creating programs to increase cat adoption and expanding the foster cat program.
Miko said the shelter plans to increase adoption by raising the profile of the cats in the shelter and creating more marketing campaigns to make the public aware that the Ottawa Humane Society is a viable place to adopt cats from.
The shelter will also promote adopt-a-cat months in June and September.
Miko said these are “high volume months” at the shelter because of breeding times and warmer weather.
Miko said a “golden opportunities” program is also being developed to place older cats with seniors.
“It’s trying to give every cat that comes through our doors the best chance of an adoptive home,” Miko said.
Gloucester-Southgate Coun. Diane Deans said she thinks this awareness campaign is “a very important initiative.”
Ottawa’s Animal Care and Control bylaw requires all pet owners to register their animals, which Deans said could assist return-to-owner statistics.
“By requiring registration of cats, the city ensures that once found, more cats will be able to be identified and then returned to their rightful owner,” Deans said.
Deans said Ottawa annually spends $700,000 on pound services, but would “very much like to be able to put that money into prevention.”