Huckleberries Online

Post Falls Mulls Cat Licensing

Posted by DFO

March 1, 2009 12:07 a.m. • 13 comments

Item: New rules could curb wandering cats: Licensing animals will rid neighborhoods of nuisances, citizen argues/Brian Walker, CDA Press

More Info: Police Chief Cliff Hayes said for the third time in the last 15 years he’ll be seeking guidance from the council on whether it wants to tackle cat licensing. He said Spokane requires cats to be licensed, but he’s not aware of any Idaho city that does. Hayes said no definitive reason was given by the council in the early 1990s and again around 2000 about why it didn’t want such a law. Hayes said he earlier supported the cat licensing concept, but he’s refraining from publicly taking a stand this go-round.

Question: Should owners be required to license cats?

13 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Liz on March 01 at 4:19 p.m.
good luck to them. they HAVE heard the expression “more difficult than herding cats” haven’t they??? mmmhmmm….like I said…I wish them luck.
EagleKeeper44 on March 01 at 5:54 p.m.
[cynicism] ON

Sure, why not? They already license almost everything else that moves now. Just another source of income……

[cynicism] OFF
hmoffsuite on March 01 at 6:03 p.m.
Like most government endeavors, they would likely spend more money administering the program than the revenue it would generate.
cantyoureadthesigns on March 01 at 8:13 p.m.
Well it’s a difficult, but not impossible job to herd cats:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8
hhuseland on March 01 at 9:13 p.m.
All kidding aside, and I use the “herding of cats” sometimes situationally, they can take over a neighborhood. Just because momma is domesticated, doesn’t necessarily mean the the offspring is. An outdoor dat can have two litters per year. That means around 16 new felines without owners to look after them.

I have a situation next door to me. I have one outdoor cat, a spade female that has been de-clawed. A new couple moved in. They have at last count, eight cats and two dogs, two inoperative snowmobiles, a motor home, and two other vehicles. We call them the deliverance people. Unfortunately, when I set food out for my cat, the others bully her away from the food, eat it all and leave her crying, late at nite. Some of the toms actually attack her on her own deck. I’m told there is nothing I can do. I’m at the point that killing my own cat is the only legal way out of this. something is very wrong with this situation.

I called the sheriff department who referred me to Animal control. It turns out that animal control isn’t into animal control. I can’t shoot them, I can’t relocate them, I can’t do anything but remain a victim to those neighbors who think it’s really cool that Herb is feeding their cats.
Whippersnapper on March 02 at 9:50 a.m.
Will there have to be a cat detector van? From the Ministry of Housinge?
(very obscure reference)
Kibby on March 02 at 9:52 a.m.
Herb that’s awful. About the only thing you can do is to trap, spay/neuter their cats & re-release them. I realize that it’s not your responsibility and you shouldn’t have to incure the cost. I’ve done the same in my neighborhood and was able to find a vet who gives me a deal because he knows the difference it will make. There are a couple of cat-rescue groups that you can contact. They may help with the trapping etc. Good luck and thanks for not shooting the neighbor’s cats. It’s not their fault that they are the unlucky pets of negligent owners.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.