WATCH: A man facing animal abuse charges admitted and adamantly justified his actions after strangling two cats, as Jill Croteau reports; it’s those attitudes that forced the city to implement a cat bylaw.
CALGARY – A Calgary man’s description of killing two kittens after he was charged with animal cruelty has garnered support from others who endorse his actions.
“I love the animals: birds, dogs…but cats, I hate,” Ottavio Pio Marchesan told Global News on Tuesday.
Marchesan, who said he grew up on a farm in Italy and moved to Canada in 1961, said a mother cat had killed a bird on his property.
Responses from Global News readers suggest many see his point of view.
Wendy Lou wrote on Facebook: “What should he be charged with ~ being a 75 yr old pensioner raised on the farm in another country in another culture? …In rural Canada.. in a farming community, it’s common to consider cats vermin. They’re not strangled, but they are trapped or poisoned when they overrun the farm… as are gophers, fox, coyotes…”
James Rodney wrote: “Strangling or gas or injection? What does it really matter? As long as the animals died as quickly and painlessly as is practically possible under the circumstances. Euthanizing is a long way from actual ‘torture’ and does not necessarily need to be done by people with some special status. The intersection of those that are fervently ‘pro life’ and the ‘fur baby’ nuts is a truly weird place.”
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Kevin McLean’s Facebook post suggested Marchesan’s actions were “primal” but “perfectly acceptable” in many cultures.
“When we accept immigrants from other cultures we also must learn to accept their way of life as well. …I am not saying what he did was right but he was raised with a set of values towards animals that differs from mine, does that give me the right to judge him?”
Sandra Henry from the Meow Foundation says she fields daily complaints from people desperate for a way to get rid of feral cats.
“There are thousands and thousands who feel that way,” said Henry.
“The perception of cats, sadly, is they’re disposable.”
The Meow Foundation offers free humane traps to borrow temporarily. The city also has traps on hand, but demand is so high, there’s a waiting list.
“I believe we have 25 or so,” said City Animal and Bylaw Service Insp. Doug Anderson. “They are constantly going out, April right through to October.”
The city says a Calgary bylaw enforcing cats to be licenced came out of necessity.
“We put the bylaw in place to deal with problems,” said Anderson. “We were told years ago: if there’s no bylaw, I’ve got to take matters into my own hands. We’ve given an option, we will investigate and have traps set…We will help rather than taking matters into their own hands.”
Authorities say there should be no excuses to resort to cruelty since there are civil ways of handling problem cats. Owners are reminded to licence their cats and keep them indoors if you can’t build an outdoor enclosure to keep them from wandering.
If you have a problematic cat and know the owner, you can call 311 and a letter will be sent on behalf of Bylaw Services. You can be fined $250 for an unlicenced cat, and $100 if it’s caught running loose in the city.
With files from Erika Tucker
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