- by Anne Finlay-Stewart
When two Owen Sound women discovered what they suspected were dishes containing cat food and poison, they knew it was not an isolated incident.
After losing her own cat to poisoning outside her home on the west side, Anne Marie Fleer was suspicious when she saw the dishes –
one empty but for a few cat hairs which she suspected had held the enticing food, and one with an oddly shiny green liquid. She soon found four more dishes.
Between school work for her Laurentian University social work program and visiting her mother who is in renal failure, Anne Marie helps with the feral cat program that provides water and food to some downtown strays. Usually there are five cats in the area and the food is all gone when she arrives to refill the feeding dishes. This time the dishes were still full and she could only see one cat.
When she and a friend called the Owen Sound police they attended quickly but told the women there was no proof of a crime and they should wash their hands after handling and disposing of the dishes.
Anne Marie's own cat Amie was only a year and a half old when she had to take it to be put down. The veterinarian said the cat had been poisoned, and it was not the first to come to the clinic. Anti-freeze and rat poison had both been suggested as the poisoning agents.
Amie had been been mostly an indoor cat who was out on the wrong day. Anne Marie wonders if dogs and children were also at risk from whatever killed her cat.
If you see activity that makes you suspicious that someone is putting animals or children at risk, call the Owen Sound Police.
The feral cat program in Owen Sound provides spay/neuter services for those who want to be responsible pet owners but cannot afford the procedure. Volunteers will pick up the cat and transport it to and from Orangeville for $115.00 including the surgery. Spaying and neutering will reduce the number of abandoned and feral cats in the city, and in turn protect the bird population.
The Owen Sound Animal Shelter is currently full of cats from busy kittens to sedate lap cats ready for adoption.
