Halifax revives cat regulations

Halifax regional council has once again collared Fluffy for licensing.

Council voted 10-9 Tuesday in favour of restoring the rules for licensing cats and dealing with strays, after voting last week to remove all references to cats in a new animal control bylaw.

However, the debate on how to enforce the rules is scheduled to take place in two weeks. And barring any further changes, the new rules for cats will take effect April 1.

Council has some important decisions to make, said Coun. Andrew Younger.

"Council can make decisions on how much, if anything, they want to spend to implement the bylaw, and if they don't want to spend anything then they have to look at what the options are," he said.

One of the main issues is the cost of expanding the animal shelter to handle more stray cats.

A proposed new contract with the SPCA that was discussed behind closed doors last week was released Tuesday, showing the annual operating cost could go up by $477,000.

The annual costs could be lower, Younger said, noting the SPCA's bid included services the Halifax Regional Municipality did not request.

Municipal politicians have been debating what to do with nuisance and stray cats for years.

Last October, council voted to introduce licensing fees of up to $30 for cats and give animal control officers the power to trap and euthanize felines in some cases.