The Halifax Regional Municipality is looking for residents to join a domestic and feral cat advisory committee to offer input on ways to deal with the growing wild feline population.
It’s hard to count the number of feral cats in the Halifax area, so the estimates vary, but some believe they could be in the tens of thousands.
“As the numbers get big they get hungry, and they are begging for food at people’s homes, getting into garbage or harming wildlife,” says veterinarian Dr. Hugh Chisholm, who sits on the feral cat advisory committee.
The group starting meeting monthly earlier this year and now the city is looking for more volunteers to sit on the committee.
“We are looking for those people that have a general interest in assisting the committee with helping us identify how we can manage the feral cat population within the city,” says HRM spokesperson Tiffany Chase.
The committee already has about a dozen members but the city is trying to fill two more positions.
“We need arms-length residents who care about animals,” says Steve Adams, a city councillor and self-proclaimed cat lover.
“People may laugh about this issue, but they are just uninformed. They have no idea how big an issue this is.”
The information gathered by the board of volunteers will advise the city’s animal control services. The deadline for applications is the end of this week.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl
