Vaughan cat lover seeks trap-neuter-return solution for feline friends
Advocate believes Vaughan Animal Services' policy unkind to feral cats

Yorkregion.com
Tim Kelly
Nov. 28, 2017

A local cat lover who is advocating for change for her feline friends in Vaughan is disappointed at the way the city handles the animals.

Monika Sudds, who spends much of her spare time caring for her four-legged pals, has started a petition on change.org with the hope of getting the city to adopt a trap-neuter-return-maintain (TNRM) program for cats that are found in the city. She is also hoping to have the city shelve fines of up to $300 for those who feed feral or domestic cats.

So far nearly 1,000 people have signed the petition in just the past few weeks.

Currently, the city does not have such a TNRM program, but it's believed by many advocates for animal care that it's the best way to deal with the problem of feral cats.

Toronto Street Cats, an all-volunteer, not-for-profit organization that is a member of the Toronto Feral Cat Coalition, says that since its inception in 2010, "we have spay/neutered over 4,600 feral cats for free, and built over 4,600 shelters to keep feral cats warm."

Carol Hroncek said Toronto Street Cats has done its work in partnership with the Toronto Humane Society, which provides Toronto Street Cats with use of a spay/neuter clinic once or twice a month.

She adds the "catch and kill" method of dealing with feral cats is more costly than TNRM and feels Vaughan should look at alternatives.

That’s certainly what Sudds believes.

The Vaughan woman spends a lot of time around cats. She admits she has “unlawfully” encroached on public land to put out a shelter for feral cats that sleeps eight-10 felines, especially as winter weather approaches, and has “easily caught over 100 feral cats” with the aim of saving them.

But, she said, Vaughan Animal Services told her to remove the shelter or she said they would get rid of it.

She said animal services staff have told her they’ve been pulling kittens out of feral colonies for years.

“I wonder why they don’t do something about it. If they spay or neuter them, they wouldn’t have to keep pulling them out,” Sudds said.

Susan Kelley, supervisor of Vaughan Animal Services, said with respect to any structure on public property, such as a cat shelter for instance, “it is unlawful for any citizens to erect structures of any type on property owned by the city.”
The City of Vaughan was also clear about not having a trap-neuter-return policy in place.

The city also says it does not conduct ongoing trapping of feral cats. When asked directly if any cats are destroyed by Vaughan Animal Services, the city did not respond with a direct answer but said: “All animals brought into the shelter by concerned citizens are scanned for identification, such as collars/tags, microchips and tattoos. If present, the owner is contacted so the animal can be reunited with them. If an owner is not identified, and the finder is interested in adopting the animal, the animal is examined, spayed/neutered, microchipped, vaccinated and dewormed. Vaughan Animal Services has done this many times for residents wishing to provide previously feral cats with a home.”

Sudds thinks more can be done. Her petition ends with this line.

“Vaughan must be a caring and compassionate community who cares for all of our homeless community cats. “