Animal Pound Services are provided for dogs, but not for cats in seven out of eight municipalities in Lanark County, Ontario, Canada.  If a resident of these communities, namely, the Towns of Mississippi Mills and Perth, and the Townships of Beckwith, Drummond North Elmsley, Lanark Highlands, Montague and Tay Valley find an abandoned cat in need and call the Animal Control Officer, they are turned away.  If the person contacts a local cat shelter, they are told they are full.  In Lanark County, only the Town of Carleton Place currently picks up stray cats.  The Town of Smiths Falls, adjacent to Lanark County, also provides this service.  While the other municipalities turn a blind eye to the problem, stray and abandoned cats are left to suffer neglect, abuse and predation by wild animals.  Concerned citizens must take it upon themselves to find homes for unwanted cats, or transport them long distances to find care for them.

All that is lacking is the political will to change the mindset that cats are expendable in rural eastern Ontario.  The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals does not provide shelter to stray animals in Lanark County.  One local cat shelter takes in between 350 and 450 cats each year, but they are not publicly funded, and cannot be expected to operate a pound as well. Programs are also needed to prevent the overpopulation of cats in these communities.

These municipalities can ignore one voice, but may be convinced to make a change happen if enough of us raise our voices to end the suffering of homeless cats.  Please sign this petition to demand that pound services be provided for the hundreds of cats abandoned in Lanark County every year.