Strathmore local shares grim reminder for pet owners to be mindful of their animals, encourages community conversations

Posted on: Jody Production

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Christina Burroughs’ cat, Lady, disappeared June 17, later being confirmed to have been taken by her neighbour and abandoned outside of Strathmore. Despite his confessing the location he abandoned the cat, she has yet to be found as of the publication of this article.

Photo Courtesy of Christina Burroughs

A local Strathmore resident is advising the community to be mindful of their pets and their behaviours following the disappearance of a beloved family cat. 

Christina Burroughs explained her cat, Lady, disappeared June 17. To date, Lady has yet to be found.

Two days following the disappearance, she was informed by local RCMP that her neighbour had been arrested and charged with animal cruelty under Section 445.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada. 

This section describes offences as killing, maiming, and/or injuring lawfully kept animals, or placing poisons intended for consumption by lawfully kept animals. 

Strathmore RCMP confirmed the arrest and charge; however, declined further request for comment, due to the investigation being ongoing. 

The neighbour had confessed to trapping and transporting the cat approximately eight kilometers north of Strathmore.

“I had sort of a feeling that my neighbor had done it because he always said he was going to, but he kind of framed these sorts of threats as jokes,” said Burroughs. “There was an interaction we had the day she went missing … we can look down into his yard because we are higher up, and he ducked and ran away toward his garage as soon as he saw us.”

Burroughs described a grievance her neighbour had about cats defecating in his garden, though she was never approached prior to her cat being trapped and taken.

Under the town’s responsible animal control bylaw, instances of defecation on properties other than its owners which is not immediately cleaned up, constitute an offence.

The bylaw describes owners as guilty of an offence if their animal is at large, causes damage to public or private property, or constitutes a public nuisance.

“It is sad because if it was a municipal issue, we would have Lady back. He would have dropped her off; we would have paid a fine, and then we would have our cat back,” said Burroughs. 

In Alberta, it is legal to trap roaming domestic cats, provided live, humane traps are used. Once trapped, the animal is under the legal care of the person who trapped it.

The Alberta SPCA details it is illegal to abandon trapped domestic animals by transporting and releasing them. They may only be released as far as a given property line. 

Alternative options include returning the animal to its owner or turning it into an appropriate municipal facility or veterinary clinic. In Strathmore, animal control is administered by Municipal Enforcement.