Companion Animal Industry Rallies Together to Tackle Cat Overpopulation Crisis

2011 is declared ‘The Year of the Cat’ —
launching a nation-wide campaign
to encourage people to treat cats like dogs

Conversations about the cat crisis in Canada that started at the International and Regional Summits for Urban Animal Strategies have evolved into an unprecedented national campaign to tackle the cat overpopulation crisis and raise the social status and value of cats in our communities.

At the 2009 Summits for Urban Animal Strategies (ISUAS), Dr. Elizabeth O’Brien, one of only four Board Certified Feline Specialists in Canada, was one of the featured speakers. She showcased a successful Year of the Cat education campaign created by the Hamilton-Burlington SPCA. Enthused by the support she received at the ISUAS and the Regional Summits, Dr. O’Brien agreed to become the spokesperson for a national Care for Cats committee. The Year of the Cat campaign is the committee’s first project. Coincidentally, 2011 is officially the Vietnamese Year of the Cat.

The Care for Cats initiative is being organized under the direction of a volunteer Advisory Council with representatives from all four sectors of the companion animal industry. It is being financially supported by Petsecure Pet Insurance, PetSmart Charities Canada, Ontario SPCA and PetLynx Corporation. Community collaborators such as shelters, animal services, vet clinics, and retailers will be delivering educational messages and events across Canada in a unified fashion to gain the most impact.

“Many people do not realize it but – when it comes to cat overpopulation and the resulting burden on animal shelters, municipalities and communities – Canada is in crisis,” explains Dr. O’Brien. “The nation’s animal shelters are over overflowing with abandoned, lost and feral cats. Every year tens of thousands of healthy cats and kittens are euthanized because there are not enough homes for all of these cats.”

Care for Cats has built its public educational campaign based on solid facts. The 2008 Urban Animals Survey, commissioned by PetLynx Corporation for the ISUAS, provided statistical proof of what people working in animal shelters and veterinary hospitals have known for decades: cats are not generally valued as much as dogs. In almost every category covered by this survey, dogs received better care than cats.

The study revealed that more than 8.5 million cats are warming the sofas of 36 per cent of Canadian households. The disappointing news is that half of them did not receive regular veterinary care in the past 12 months and less than 25 per cent have permanent identification, such as tattoos or microchips. Forty-one per cent either haven’t been vaccinated in the last four years or have never been vaccinated at all.

Sadly, it also appears that the 21 per cent of cat owners with unaltered cats don’t appear to understand (or care) that there is an alarming cat overpopulation problem in North America. Fifty-four per cent of people who owned cats that were not currently spayed or neutered reported that they were “unlikely” to have their cats altered in the coming year.

The Year of the Cat campaign will facilitate the delivery of several national events in 2011 including:

• May: A cat awareness campaign and an adopt-a-thon
• Sept. 23: Oct. 2: National Cat ID Week
• December: Hoping for Fur-ever homes adopt-a-thon

“The message we need to get to the public is not only about the importance of spaying and neutering cats as a means of population control,” concludes O’Brien, “we also have to try to change attitudes about the intrinsic value of cats in our society. In a nutshell, we need people to start treating cats like dogs!  We invite anyone interested in cats and creating healthy communities to visit our website and get involved in the Year of the Cat campaign.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Dr. Liz O’Brien, Care for Cats Committee Chair

(p) 905.570.4145 (e) drliz@careforcats.ca

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:

Petsecure Pet Insurance

PetSmart Charities Canada

PetLynx Corporation
Ontario SPCA

 

Posted by Terri Perrin, Online Communications Editor