Cypress County council will run through first reading of a proposed cat bylaw at its regular meeting Tuesday morning.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
Cypress County councillors will get their first look at a “cat bylaw” that’s proposed for the area around Medicine Hat when they meet Tuesday morning.
The agenda for the regular meeting of council shows first reading of the bylaw is set to take place with a tentative date for a public hearing and potential passage noted as Oct. 6.
The rationale accompanying the item states administrators have become concerned with the number of cat complaints in hamlets, and the new regulations would limit the number of cats at residences, prohibit animals from being abandoned in the countryside and give bylaw officer power to lay fines.
The bylaw would restrict the number of adult cats at a single residence to three and require the animals to be licensed.
A one-time fee for lifetime registration would be $10 per animal, and would include one free replacement tag.
A $100 fine would be levelled on anyone guilty of a first offence for allowing a cat to run at large, be a nuisance, teasing a cat, or violating the limit. Fines would double for second offence and double for each instance thereafter to a maximum of $4,000.
Abandoning a cat would come with a first-time $250 penalty, rising to $500 on second offence.
