St. Paul public hearing set for proposed Animal Control Bylaw

St. Paul is looking to address the problem of responsible pet ownership and feral cats in the town of St. Paul and is opening up the conversation for feedback from residents during a public hearing. 

The hearing will take place on Tuesday, May 23 at the Town Hall Council Chambers at 7:00 pm about the proposed Bylaw 2023-05: Animal Control. Anyone interested in speaking on the bylaw is encouraged to participate by oral or written submissions. 

Any written submissions must be received by the Executive Assistant no later than Noon May 23 and oral submissions may be made at the Public Hearing without prior notification to the Town of St. Paul. 

The new draft bylaw was presented to the St. Paul council on Monday, May 8, and would state no one property can own more than three dogs, three cats, or more than a total of four cats and dogs combined that exceed six months old. 

The other changes to the Bylaw say no person shall bait, feed or take any actions that may attract feral or wild animals, whether private or public property, with the exception of bird feeders. Trevor Kotowich said the town has a portion of people who are providing food for feral cats. 

“At the end of the day, no Bylaw that we enact will take the place of good old fashion common sense and unfortunately sometimes that is missing in many facets of what we do on a daily basis but what is key for us is responsible pet ownership.” 

Kotowich says they are trying to send that message to the community saying it’s not helping and once the food runs out the animals have nowhere to go. 

During the meeting, the question of what houses with more pets than the allowed limit would do and Kotowich said the property would need to find a way to reduce that number. 

Council passed the first reading with Mayor Maureen Miller saying adjustments can be made for the second reading.