Traps were set up this week for a cat cull in a rural Manitoba community, sparking controversy.
The Rural Municipality of Taché hired an animal management company to get rid of feral cats in Lorrette, Man.
According to council minutes, the RM approved a $1,000 budget to hire the Rural Animal Management Services to remove feral felines.
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The stray cats are caught in commercial-grade traps and then euthanized, according to the company.
Joyce Chabot-Kroeker is shocked stray cats will be killed in her community.
“It’s very disturbing, super disturbing,” she said. “I’m not OK with that. They’re animals, they don’t have the right to be treated like that.”
Chabot-Kroeker’s garbage has been ripped apart the past few weeks. She suspects it was a hungry stray cat.
“I think I’m going to leave cat food around my house so if I feed him maybe he won’t go to the trap,” she said.
The animal service company wouldn’t speculate on how many cats will be killed. They work within the budget and each cat comes with a different price tag.
The company also wouldn’t say how many cats they have caught or will catch, how long they’d be trapping cats or how many stray cats live in the area.
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Lynne Scott from Craig Street Cats took in five kittens she said were orphaned by the cull. She’s calling on the RM to cover the costs of caring for the kittens.
“When cats are culled there’s not attention paid to any kittens that may have been left behind,” she said. “It’s incredibly cruel of the RM to do this.”
Our requests to the RM for comment were not immediately returned.
The cat cull also stirred debate online.
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