Deer Run, Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Somebody, a bird lover by the look of it, living in this pleasant south-east quadrant of Calgary is putting up posters containing the photographs of two cats together with an ominous warning:
“Are these your cats? Please keep them on your property or these bird killers will not be coming home!”
That is an implied threat to kill cats who roam freely in the area. One of the cats on the poster, Tucker, is owned by Karen Megert and quite naturally she is very concerned. She tells the reporter for CTV NEWS CALGARY that the two cats on the poster are not stray cats. Tucker is an indoor cat and he wears a collar. However, sometimes he escapes. It should be stressed, though, that it appears to be her intention to keep Tucker indoors. I would have thought that this would have been satisfactory to local ornithologists who dislike cats.
Karen said:
“It worries me completely because I don’t know if someone’s out to really harm my animals.”
She would like to speak to the person who put the posters up. She says that it is a nice neighborhood and people get on well. If a person has a problem with cats she wants them to talk to her to try and resolve the matter. All they have to do, she said, is to knock on her door.
Another resident, Susan Berry, who has lived in the area for nearly two decades was disappointed to see the notices because as Karen said they live in a quiet, family-orientated community. She removed a notice on Thursday morning we are told.
Comment: At least putting up a notice is better than simply shooting cats that are outside which is the preference of some people. However, I would have thought that the poster was very close to being a crime because it is a threat to damage personal property in a strict legal sense. In other words it’s a threat to carry out a crime. Perhaps the police should find out who he is and talk to him.
Thank you. The hunt does keep prey alert and defensive. It is part of nature. I have always said that the feral cat colony that lived here kept the bird population healthy and rodents under control, along with snakes and rabbits. The fast and the clever lived to breeding age.