Impending roof collapse forces animal shelter to clear the building

NEWS AND VIEWS: Cape Breton Shelter was forced to clear the building of dogs, cats and one rabbit over fears that the roof might collapse under the weight of heavy snow that fell during a snowstorm that lasted four days.

The Cape Breton SPCA in Sydney, N.S., as it appeared on Tuesday. The organization says there are concerns the roof could collapse under the weight of snow. (Sarah Lyon - image credit)

When Sarah Lyon was interviewed by CBC's Main Street Cape Breton in an interview on Wednesday, she said that staff were "prepping the animals and getting them ready for evacuation."

At the time the shelter had 45 animals including 19 dogs, both adults and puppies, and 25 cats and one rabbit.

The snow storm lasted four days as mentioned and staff stayed with the animals as they heard creaking sounds coming from the roof while it bowed under the weight of the snow.

Sarah Lyon said that the ceiling was starting to look structurally unreliable.

The shelter animals will be placed in other shelters until it safe to return. In the meantime a contractor went to the shelter to remove snow and ice from the roof. The building is 47 years old. Comment: that isn't very old but I guess they had to evacuate the building out of an abundance of caution. Questions should be asked about the original construction.

The report by CBC implies that the building will need work in order to test the structural integrity and potential repair. Comment: repairs might be expensive which is the kind of expense that an animal shelter does not want.

Further comment: is the first time that I have encountered a news story about an animal shelter where the roof might collapse under the weight of snow. I've been reading stories about shelters for the last 15 years so this is a novel situation which is why I am reporting it.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Big Valley council has passed a by-law on cat registration

NEWS AND COMMENT-BIG VALLEY, CANADA: Councillors, the ladies and gentlemen who run the village (which I'm told that it is), have decided to pass a by-law which makes it mandatory to register your cat with the council or some other agency appointed by the council. This is not a world first as far as I am aware but it is very rare indeed to introduce cat registration in line with dog registration.

Big Valley Council passed a by-law on cat registration. Image: MikeB

And it is reported that the reason why the council has introduced cat registration is so they can identify the owners of cats which citizens regard as troublesome because, for example, they damage people's property. This can lead to retaliation in which cats are harmed or even killed resulting in police involvement.

They say that concerned residents who don't like to see stray cats wandering around can use traps to contain them and take them, I presume, to a pound or shelter but they still don't know who owns the cat at least initially until they are scanned for a microchip. But sometimes cats aren't microchipped.

The strong argument is that if cats are registered, they will know who owns each cat. The mayor of the village, Clark German, was in favour of the new bylaw because the cats should be under the control of their owner. One councillor said that free range cats help to control the mouse population and that it is the owners who are to blame for any nuisance not the cats.

Despite this counterargument the councillors passed the law. So, there you have it: there will be cat registration in line with dog registration in the village of Big Valley!

Comment: registration of cats without micro-chipping might not work! You can't necessarily identify a cat by their appearance. I would have thought obligatory micro-chipping should go hand in hand with registration. And micro-chipping should be kept up to date because often the details become out of date as the owner moves home. Or the cat belongs to somebody else in due course.

This little story is very typical of much wider issues concerning cat ownership and whether cats should be allowed free access to the outside at their will. It is an ongoing debate in many jurisdictions in Canada, America, Europe, the UK and other countries. Australia probably leads the way in this debate. 

As I recall, one Aussie jurisdiction has introduced registration with limited success. Another problem is that you don't know who the cat owners are at the moment. If they don't come forward to register the cats you don't know that they haven't come forward.

This would particularly apply if in response to knowing about this new bylaw some people kept their cats inside for a while. Therefore, the law might be difficult to enforce accurately. It is the same with obligatory micro-chipping. How many people will volunteer their cats to be microchip? And if they don't what does the council do about it?

Cat food made with 92% sustainable insect protein

About one year ago I wrote about my desire to see cat food made with insects. There are at least two compelling reasons why this is a good idea. Firstly, domestic cats eat insects naturally. Insects are on their list of prey items.  We've all seem them hunt and devour insects.

Catit stand at an exhibition. Photo: Catit on Facebook.

Dry cat food made with insects. Photo: Catit.

They make plant-based cat litter too:

Catit plant-based cat litter. Image: their Facebook page.

Secondly the environmental benefits of farming insects to make cat food are well known. It is time to move away from conventional processes. Cat food is made from raw materials that are unsuitable for humans such as diseased or contaminated livestock, roadkill and I would argue also from euthanized companion animals at shelters. That last point is not in any way advertised or discussed but, years ago, I confirmed that this happens.

YOU CAN READ MORE ON THIS PRODUCT BY CLICKING THIS LINK.

You want to avoid all those things. We want to reduce the production of beef because it has a harmful effect upon the environment causing global warming through the methane emitted by cows. That's just one aspect of the process which is unsuitable in the modern world. Another is that forests are being cut down to farm beef (Brazil). That is a double whammy of negatives with respect to the environment and global warming.

I think we could all agree that cat food made from insects is a good idea and the sooner we can get there the better. Well, a Canadian company, Catit, has taken that step and on a publicity website it is announced that "Catit introduces cat food made with 92% sustainable insect protein!"

They want to reduce the ecological paw print. And domestic cats have quite a big paw print because there are around, it is believed, 500 million on the planet if you include all types i.e. feral, stray and domestic. And I like the way they are using sustainable insect protein. The product is Catit Nuna. They say that it is extremely palatable and easily digestible. The food is complete and balanced and they set "a new standard in premium cat food".

Their whole grubs contain protein, vitamins, omega 6, calcium, phosphorus, zinc and minerals. The grubs are dried and ground into a fine nutritious flour and then mixed with other ingredients to make the recipe. It looks like regular kibble.

Catit also make a line of plant-based cat litters: Catit Go Natural. There is no doubt that there will be many more businesses getting into the production of cat products, such as food and litter, which are environmentally friendly. There is a massive amount of pressure on businesses nowadays, thanks in part to the coronavirus pandemic, to become more conscious of the environment. Global warming is becoming quite a central part of humankind's thinking. It should be at the heart of business decisions, all business decisions.

Polystyrene cooling boxes modified to be used as homes for feral cats

Photo: Regina Cat Rescue on Facebook

This is a cool (excuse the pun) way to quickly make feral cat homes. They keep the cats warm during winter which is coming up. The idea comes from Regina Cat Rescue. They are based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The boxes were used to transport blood products before they were modified by the volunteers. It's great to see recycling like this. Last year they found that the boxes kept a temperature of 20°C during the winter. I presume this is with a cat inside! They hand out about 75 shelter boxes annually to residents who want to help feral cats in the area. I flag up some potential health issues with Styrofoam in another post.

Source: CBC.