KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK Sunday, July 25, 2004

"Cat traps snare pet owners
By Danna Johnson
Staff reporter

Gary Stephenson knew something was wrong when his neighbours’ cats started disappearing.

Then he began hearing rumblings of cat trapping going on in the bushes surrounding the G & M Trailer Court on the Kamloops Indian Reserve.

When his neighbour Al Johnson reported that his feline companion had disappeared, Stephenson made a few calls and was shocked when he heard the truth.

After numerous complaints about "wild" cats roaming throughout the G & M and Silver Sage Trailer Courts, Kamloops Indian Band Chief Shane Gottfriedson said something had to be done.

"Last year there were quite a few wild cats roaming the trailer park and one lady was bitten. As a result she had to take antibiotics and it was very serious," he said.

But because there is no bylaws regarding cats, Gottfriedson said there was little the band could do to address the mounting problem.

So when two women came to the band asking for help, the bylaw officer lent them live traps. Food is placed in the traps which are set out in the wooded areas of the trailer court. The cats are lured in and a door snaps shut behind them.

"From what I understand the traps are not cruel in any way. They are live traps. The cats are then caught and taken to the SPCA," Gottfriedson said.

The stray cat colonies on the reserve are an ever mounting problem, Gottfriedson said, and trapping is the last resort.

"There are so many people who use the reserve to abandon unwanted cats. We’re always receiving complaints."

Trouble is, Johnson and Stephenson said, those traps aren’t only attractive to stray animals, but household pets as well.

The neighbours agree the cat problem had to be addressed, but neighbours should have been notified.

Johnson said he never would have let his cat outside had he known there were traps.

"They should have put notices out about what they were going to do."

Meanwhile, Stephenson is keeping close tabs on his kitty KJ.

"They’ll find out something if they trap mine. These people trapping cats have got to be animals themselves!"

Park manager Tracy Leonard said she has heard from four residents whose cats have gone missing since the trapping began nearly two months ago.

Kamloops SPCA executive director Jennifer Gore said "they receive trapped cats quite regularly," but added there is a simple way to address the problem, without enduring the heartache Johnson has gone through.

"Everybody should keep tabs on their animals and make sure your cat or dog is identified with a tattoo or microchips."

More importantly, however, is to prevent the problem from cropping up in the first place.

"It’s about spaying and neutering. The solution is obvious but there are whole groups of people who aren’t getting that message."
When cats are brought into the shelter, they are kept for five calendar days to give the owner a chance to claim them before being eligible for adoption."