I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting

too many people want to foist the care and protection of their animals off on others. while i dont agree with how many shelters are run i also realize theyre understaffed and under funded and often overpopulated with actual unwanted stray animals.while the shelter should have been more aggressive in tracking down the owners of a tagged animal with ids, people have to wake up to realities-you have to make adequet arrangements for the safety of your pets when youre away. there is always a risk that an outdoor cat in particular in many areas is susceptable to harm. cats are especially unsuited to being forced into unfamiliar restrictive environments and react accoprding to their nature .we can yammer on about how things ought to be but we really need to act in accordance with actualities. you need to be a little more vigilent in regards to your animals safety because you cannot count on strangers to do the right thing. looking to the government to nanny your pets is unwise and generally ends in tears. a little active taking of responsibility would be the end of most of these very sad tales.

It’s a cat. A frightened one.

Friggin idiotic MAS.

There are some discrepancies to Serra’s story about when he realized the cat was missing. If I’m interpreting the reporting correctly, one article seems to suggest the cat was lost before he left on vacation but he wasn’t concerned; another suggests he didn’t know about the loss when he left.

Also, the MAS supervisor, Janet Michaud, claims MAS can do better, but…

“The cat’s fate was sealed after Michaud said the neutered ex-tomcat “showed his nails” and swatted at her “when I touched him.”

http://www.mississauga.com/article/7698

http://www.torontosun.com/News.....3-sun.html

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_15847.aspx

My dear old cat went missing 2 years ago. He was 15 and had CRF. He sneaked out the back door while I was letting the dogs out, and over the back fence before I knew he was gone. He was gone for 4 days before he came back. I had flyers up all over the neighbourhood within a 4 block radius, and also took time off work to distribute flyers door-to-door.

He has not been out since, and now that he is 17, I’ve made 100% sure of it.

Regardless, and maybe I’m in the minority here, I could never have taken off to Europe for a week with that on my conscience. I was devastated when he was gone (although the second time, I figured he knew his way back, but I was still devastated).

Was Mark Serra’s cat an outdoor cat? It shouldn’t have been. Mississauga isn’t exactly idyllic farmland; it’s a thriving bedroom suburb with very busy roads and jowl-to-cheek housing. Yet he high-tailed off to Europe for a week. Notwithstanding that MAS could have been a lot less bureaucratic since they chipped the cat in the first place and probably charged Serra for the license, WTF does he have to be “outraged” about?

Is he gonna remain outraged, or do something about changing the system?

On the other hand, we can only guess at the shelter’s standards from the amount of time they kept the cat, and that would be as far as their obligation would go. However, when one compares some of these municipal agencies that are funded by tax dollars, to shelters like the Toronto Humane Society (the large downtown agency that is funded by donors not taxpayers) which strive toward no-kill goals, it’s possible that the municipal agencies could reconsider their obligations and provide value. With apologies to those shelter staff who are genuinely caring, these bureaucratic government agencies are just another city department, and none that I have seen here have been dedicated to any real re-homing goals.

This province is also sadly behind the times in terms of meaningful anti-cruelty legislation.