Running Wild: The Cats of Cornwall (2020) - full transcript

♪

(rattling)

♪

(door opening)

(meowing)

♪

They were just found
loose in the plant.

Yeah, our forklift guy,
he thought it was rats.

(meowing)

♪

Adorable, right?



How old are you?
You look like my other babies.

Yeah, you have teeth.

Good baby.

So, somehow they’re
making their way in here,

and they’re having their litters
or they’re being dropped off.

We used to take them home,
but we can’t take them all home.

-That’s the problem.
-I know.

(meowing)

(forklift beeping)

(meowing)

(thudding)

(engine starting)

♪

(cat cooing)



♪

(birds chirping)

♪

(whirring)

It is a feline free for all
in Cornwall,

as feral cats have
taken over neighborhoods.

They may be cuddly and cute,
but in Cornwall feral cats

have become a big problem.

They’re breeding and feeding,

and they’re using
the whole street

as a litter box.

Some residents
are embracing the cats,

leaving food around.

Well, getting everyone
to agree on a solution

is much like herding cats.

Residents and volunteers alike
just want the city

to stop pussyfooting around.

It’s a catastrophe.

♪

The city of Cornwall
dropped the ball many years ago.

There should have been money
into the budget every year.

We wouldn’t be
in this predicament now.

We wouldn’t be.

I am Mary Jane Proulx
from Cornwall, Ontario.

Lived here all my life.

Growing up I had rabbits
and guinea pigs,

and all kinds of animals.

I remember trying
to save little birds

whenever I was,
like, 8 years old.

No, they all died,

but at least
I tried to save them.

I do the right thing,
and I expect everybody else

to do the right thing
and I get very, very mad

when people don’t do
the right thing.

I want to slap people sometimes,
but I don’t.

I love cats, and I don’t want
cats to be poisoned,

or to be, you know,
shot or trapped,

and whatever done to it.

It’s not their fault
why they’re out there right now.

Something has to be done.

So, I started
my own organization

called Cat Trap,

and we believe
in the program TNR,

trap, neuter, and return.

After we bring them to the vet,
we put them back out

where we got them from,
into the colonies.

Because they’re all together,
they’re all like family.

♪

I think the first time we did
any trapping was like 15 cats.

That was, like, wow,
it was quite amazing,

and then it just
snowballed after that.

I wanna help people.

So, my name is out there.

I like to knock on doors,
I like to talk to people.

Well, I mean, I have
a nice piece of property here,

and I got cats
pooping all over it.

I got a cute little dog,
likes to roll in it,

and I don’t think it’s right.

I pay high taxes, and I expect
some stuff cleaned up,

and they’re not doing it.

I called the city and said,
"What are you gonna do
with these cats?"

They turned around, told me
they have a bylaw for dogs

but not for cats.

I told them, "Bullshit,"
and hung up.

We found ’em dead
on the lawn right there,

some babies and that.

We found some babies
over there on the track line.

He’s found some dead ones
on his property over there.

It’s too bad, you know,
just cats all over.

It’s frustrating.

I’ve dealt with neighbors
fighting with each other.

That’s not good, you don’t wanna
fight with your neighbor

over something like that.

It’s not the cats’ fault,
it’s our fault.

Let’s take responsibility now.

♪

That’s okay.

Hear that noise,
it’s okay, you’re okay.

So, Mellissa, she’s awesome,
I call her my other daughter.

I do.

She’s a hard, hard worker.

She’s doing her rescue
all on her own.

Plus, she works.

She just loves animals,
it’s just DNA.

Yeah.

We don’t want
fleas on your face.

(water streaming)

I’ve rescued several litters
from the dump,

and they call me, "Can you come
pick up these kittens?"

Or, "Can I bring them to you?"

♪

My name’s Mellissa, I run
Tiny But Mighty Kitten Rescue,

and I save kittens.

Cats specifically,
I mean, at least in Cornwall,

the city doesn’t fund
to help them,

and a lot of people find
that the cats are disposable.

Kitten gets old, not as cute,

put them outside,
they’re not fixed.

What do you think happens?

I get a lot of messages,
a minimum of 5 per day of,

"Can you take
this kitten I found?"

So, if I have space,
I can take them.

First, get them spayed,
neutered, vaccinated,

dewormed, microchipped,

and then I find
families for them.

♪

I don’t have a clue
how many litters I’ve saved.

I lost track.

(meowing)

♪

(flags flapping)

♪

There has always been
a large number of cats

in this area,
and it’s primarily due to

the lack of spaying
and neutering.

My name’s Bonnie Bishop,
and I’m an associate director

with the Ontario SPCA.

♪

We call ourselves here
an animal shelter,

and we have 12 of them
across the province of Ontario.

♪

(indistinct remarks)

In this community, for example,
we have been inundated

with a large number of cats
for many years.

We represent 30 percent
of the intake of cats

in the province of Ontario.

(dogs barking)

We have limited cage space here,
and we’ve had days where people

have shown up with up to
as many as 20 cats,

and think that we can
take those animals in

on that given day.

Here in Cornwall,
there’s no program currently

that the city runs
to pick up stray cats,

so the public
literally picks them up

and brings them in to us.

We talk to a lot of people
that come in,

and when we had a waitlist,
say, "Ah, just gonna go
dump it somewhere. "

Not acceptable, it’s not
acceptable to dump an animal.

Those animals, they become
prey for something else.

And also, they are now
being forced to hunt

and fend for themselves
in a way that they’ve never

had to do before.

No, I believe
cats should be indoors.

(meowing)

(purring)

♪

The domestic cats
that we have in our homes,

we see them in our house
as being this loveable,

adorable creature,
and then we put them outside.

They engage in
very similar behaviors

to what wild cats would do.

-I keep getting this cat.
-Yeah.

That’s a new one.

My name is Elizabeth Gow,

and I study what cats do
when we can’t find them,

and I do that using a variety

of different
specialized cameras.

(photos snapping)

♪

They can get up to
all kinds of mayhem.

They can cross busy roads.

They can go into sewer drains,

climb trees, stalk,

kill animals.

And so, on one of the concerns
with cats is their impacts

on biodiversity.

They are not from here,
and when they’re outside,

they are technically
an invasive species.

They engage in
very similar behaviors

to what wild cats would do.

So, they will hunt animals
when they find them.

(cat snarling)

(bird crying)

(snarling)

♪

(rustling)

It’s a golden crowned kinglet.

This tiny little one here.

♪

So, and here is
a little warbler,

the northern perulla.

It’s got a little
golden chest here.

Well, cats will eat
just about any bird

they can get near.

Brown creeper,

so named ’cause it
goes up the tree trunk.

A woodpecker.

In Canada alone,
about 250 million,

250 million birds
are killed every year

by domestic cats.

♪

I’m Bridget Stutchbury,
my specialty is studying

migratory songbirds
to understand

why their populations
are declining

and what we can do to help them.

(birds chirping)

Birds are what I call
blue collar workers.

They move seeds around,

they eat insects, and if
they weren’t eating the insects,

the insects’ populations
are gonna explode

and damage the trees.

And, so, when you take,
like, a really important player

in an ecosystem,
and just take it out altogether,

then things are going to
change in that ecosystem.

The forest won’t be as healthy,

the air won’t be as clean.

You can have
this huge cascading effect.

(thudding)

(bird chirping)

Well, it’s not simply a matter
of there being no birds.

Cats certainly hunt
native small mammal species.

So, these are native mice,
chipmunks, small rodents,

rabbits, all kinds
of small animals.

They also can transmit diseases.

One is feline leukemia virus.

So, they might be able
to transfer into

wild cat populations.

These are cougars,
and bobcats, and lynx.

But, I don’t think that people
are really paying attention

to the problem.

The impacts of cats are
really, really massive.

We need to not be losing species

to maintain
our own health as humans.

♪

I am part
of the Canadian task force.

We’re trying to find
the best solutions

to solve this cat problem
that we have.

The first step in any sort
of management undertaking

is to know, well,
where is the problem?

♪

There’s typically
more cats in areas

where there’s more poverty.

People don’t tend to spay
and neuter their cats

when they can’t afford it.

And also are more likely
to put their cats outside.

And if you think of a cat
produces anywhere from

2 to upwards of 18 offspring,

that’s a lot
of cats and kittens.

(meowing)

♪

(meowing)

♪

(beeping)

♪

(beeping)

(meowing)

♪

(whirring)

(water streaming)

(clinking)

(whirring)

♪

(meowing)

♪

I actually learned
by watching videos online,

for the most part.

I had my vet train me
in certain things.

Besides that, though,
I learned it all online.

♪

(meowing)

You ready, babe?

Here you go, love, here, no.

♪

These guys were orphaned
at 2 weeks old.

(slurping)

They were actually
in decent shape,

but usually they don’t come
in great shape when I get them.

(purring)

Are you purring?

Good boy.

She’s Maisie, the only girl.

There’s Flynn.

Nicky, and the big one, Logan.

And Jackson.

Is that you?

(kissing)

Crazy boy.

(zipping)

Who’s next?

I only need one kid.

Oh, one kid.

Watch out.

Oh.

I mean, it’s nonstop.

I bottle feed
every four hours right now,

so it’s never ending.

Literally never ending.

And I even do this while
I am supposed to be working.

Oh.

I love it for the most part.

Sometimes it’s stressful,
like when they

aspirate on their milk,

or if there ’s
a medical problem.

But, when they’re
healthy like this,

it’s pretty easy.

(purring)

What do you want?

You already ate.

♪

When they leave, it’s, like,
really heartbreaking,

but ultimately,
I guess, worth it

because they find forever homes.

♪

You get attached,
that’s for sure.

Are you done?

Geez,

that was so much.

Okay, you’re done.

♪

(meowing)

♪

(purring)

(birds chirping)

♪

Feral cats
are certainly something

myself as an ecologist
are concerned about,

because they will hunt
many, many animals a day,

because they have to eat them

much, much more
than an owned cat.

No, I don’t think
there is sort of

a one-size-fits-all solution
to try to reduce

the number of cats that are
not owned that run wild,

the stray and feral cats.

There’s a few
different strategies,

one being euthanasia.

Trap, neuter, release, or TNR,

and that involves capturing cats
and neutering them,

so they can’t reproduce,
vaccinating them,

and then returning them.

(purring)

(birds chirping)

A lot of people in Cornwall
want to put them down,

they want to euthanize.

I don’t agree with that.

(whirring)

♪

Even though there’s only
two of us, it didn’t matter.

We had signs, we walked in.

We were sort of
making a lot of noise,

so then all of the media
came out started to talk to us

because we had our signs,
and we had the kitten.

They wanted to know,
"Why are you here?"

-You know?
-And, "Why are you bringing

-a kitten?"
-Yeah, so we continued

-every two weeks.
-Yep.

Whenever we did protest
we had like 300 comments,

250 probably against us.

So, that means
they’re not really thinking

outside of the box.

I want people to think
outside the box.

♪

Will they back down?
Will they support us?

Time will tell.

But, if they don’t, if they say,
"Oh, okay, no,

we don’t have the money,"
whatever, we will continue

what we have been doing.

We are not gonna let this go

until there is money
in the budget.

-Agree? I agree.
-Agreed.

Yeah.

(whirring)

There are some people
in any community of course

who would say, well, you know,
hate to put it this way,

but, "Shoot them. "

We’ve moved beyond that,
I’m sorry.

My name is Christopher Rogers,
I am the supervisor

by-law enforcement
for the city of Cornwall.

♪

It’s easy to assess that

this is something unique
to this community.

It is not.

The other municipalities
have set up programs,

usually subsidized programs,
so let’s be real,

it’s about money.

♪

Calgary is celebrated
as a prime example

of what it takes to manage

and stabilize cat populations.

They have ample resources.

They’re a rich city.

We are not Calgary.

(whirring)

Simply not a matter of helping
to support TNR programs.

It comes down to, I believe,
financial ability.

(engine puttering)

Cornwall was formerly
a heavy industrial town.

That is no more.

Those very-well-paying jobs
are gone.

(beeping)

And again, we’re talking about
setting aside

fair chunks of change
to deal with cats,

when there are people
in this city

who have to decide
whether they want

to pay the rent or eat.

(chewing)

(clinking)

(whirring)

(clicking)

♪

(thudding)

(clinking)

So, for my rescue, people can
drop off empties and donations,

which helps pay the vet bills.

(clinking)

Big ones are worth 20 cents.

Small ones are worth 10 cents.

So, every bit helps.

And, um, yeah, cash them in.

(clinking)

♪

It costs a lot to run a rescue
when you’re one person

doing it yourself.

But, here we are.

I mean, hopefully
this city steps up

and helps people like me

who are trying
to do their part, I guess.

♪

I don’t know what it is,
but it’s half rewarding

and half devastating.

So, I do rescue and I go home.

Like, I don’t have
a social life or anything,

so, kittens.

(rattling)

(whirring)

She’s a fighter,
she’s a big fighter.

She’s like, what, 27 maybe.

I don’t think I was that much
of a fighter at that age.

I’m learning, as she’s learning,
that we have one fight.

That’s to help
the cats in Cornwall.

♪

The problem started in East End.

Low income area unfortunately.

And if they’re not fixed,
you’re gonna have kittens,

and kittens, kittens. .
that’s the problem.

(meowing)

Some people
still aren’t getting it,

which is very maddening to us.

And we see things
more than the councilors,

like, they have no idea.

You know, a couple of them said,
"Well, it’s not

in my neighborhood,"
but if you don’t fix

the problem now,
it will be in your neighborhood.

So, whenever it all
came about with the cats,

I thought to myself,
"How can I make people talk?

How can I make people talk?"

♪

I’m gonna run.

I’m gonna run
for municipal election.

I had one sign.

This is my one election sign
right here.

And I put the sign all over,

and then people will think,
"Oh, my God,

she has all these signs" .
no, I only had one sign, okay.

-You ready?
-There we go.

Easy come, easy go.

♪

And I had one ad
in the newspaper,

which was amazing,
because usually

the people would have a picture
of their face, you know.

No, no, not me, I had a picture
of a bloody cat in a trap.

♪

As I said, a vote for me
was a vote for the cats.

Got a couple emails saying,
"Oh, my God, I can’t believe

you’re running
just on this platform,"

and I said, "Yes, yes, I am. "

But, that was fine,
you’re gonna

have haters everywhere.

You just deal with ’em.

♪

Time to go find out
the election results.

♪

We’re doing well, we are.

I wanted 400.

This is awesome.

I know I’m not gonna get in.

I knew that from the beginning,
but this is

an awareness campaign,
and this is where we’re at.

So, we were looking
at the screen, Mellissa and I,

and, "Oh, my God,
it’s going up. "

♪

I was hoping maybe
for 500 votes,

and I got 1,532 votes

all over my one platform.

So, that was pretty good,
got people talking.

♪

Well, there should be a program
where they at least

capture them
and spay or neuter them,

and, uh, you know,
but they don’t.

Seems like
it’s a never-ending circle

for years and years,
and honestly,

I think that by now
it would change

much more than this.

-That’s minor.
-I think there’s a lot

more important things
to be looking at

than cats.

Well, my way
of looking at them is,

they’re better
to put them to sleep

than
letting ’em die cruelly

Last time it was pigeons,
four years ago,

and now it’s cats,
so we have all nature,

creatures we have to deal with.

If you own a cat,
they should be in the house,

and you should take them
to the vet regularly.

But, a lot of people
don’t think that way,

you know, they believe,
eh, should be outside,

and they don’t
really care for them.

♪

Well, I’d like for the city
to be involved in it

and get them fixed.

Right now
they’re doing nothing at all.

It’s just going out of control.

They wanna
talk about feral cats,

talk. . okay, talk about bugs.

Do you think Cornwall
has a problem with cats?

No, I would say we have
a problem with people.

♪

They’ll end up staying in
that pile of a mess over there.

Unwanted cats.

So, we put food and water,

because I can’t let them starve.

♪

When I look into their eyes,
it’s like I feel like

I can see their soul,
and I feel like

their loneliness or their pain,

and I just. . I just have to help.

Typically invasive species
are viewed as being

quite harmful.

But, unfortunately,
how we view cats

is much different
’cause our deep connection

with our pets.

It’s very easy for me to say,
"Go keep your cat inside. "

But, the reality is that
that’s not always easy.

We’re working
with human behavior,

and we’re also working
with cat behavior,

and that’s what makes them
a very complicated

and complex conservation issue.

In neighborhoods where people
don’t have a lot of money,

these neighborhoods
may benefit from

subsidized spay and neuter,

and also education campaigns
that are targeted

in those neighborhoods
that can help reduce

the number of cats
that are being thrown outside.

♪

(meowing)

♪

(whirring)

The neighbors here next door

were furious about the cats.

Didn’t want me feeding ’em,
nothing,

and they eventually
had to move away.

It was the fact
that a pair of kittens

came along
and were looking for food,

and then I had five kittens
come along looking for food,

and I fed them.

That’s how it started.

♪

Twice a day
that I come down with a dish

of dry and wet food.

♪

I’m not sure
if it’s a problem of cats

or a problem of mice.

They’re not around,
there’s more mice.

There’s even a rat
showed up here.

I mean, I don’t particularly
want them in my home,

so having the cats around

is part of life.

(birds chirping)

(rustling)

Everyone’s doing really well.

They all had their surgeries
and are recovered

so they can go
to their forever homes.

Hey, babes.

So, everyone’s, like,
a full-on kitten now.

Proper kitten, no more bottles.

Jackson took the longest.

He was still eight weeks old
and on a bottle.

He ended up with
almost 60,000 Likes

on his little photo,
so my page blew up

after that a little bit.

(ticking)

They’re really easy going
because they’re used to people.

I mean,
that’s all they know, right?

They didn’t have a cat mom.

Babe, my new pants.

My new pants, love.

And they just are
obsessed with everybody.

Hey, buddy.

You like people, eh?

No.

No thanks, no thanks, no thanks.

(rustling)

(chimes dinging)

Have they been around
for a long time?

I’ve been
looking after these guys

for two months.

A man moved in
next door to a lady

that was helping feed a colony.

And within 24 hours
of him being there,

he put poison in the water.

Two moms and two litters
were found dead

all over the backyard.

I think there’s probably about
eight cats went down.

Within days, they turned up,

and they were just
little kittens.

There was kittens
found dead on the road.

There was one cat
decapitated by this man.

The cats scattered
in all directions,

and they came this way.

So, that’s why I inherited
these little guys.

So, that’s Guimauve,

and the other little boy,

that’s George.

Oh, my God, he’s so cute.

So, how many cats do you think
are actually around here then?

I usually have six guaranteed.

(meowing)

You wanna just
come with me for a second?

I’ll show you.

Lisa, because she’s not part
of this, is staying away.

-Really?
-Well, she doesn’t wanna

come in here,
so I brought a crate out

and put straw inside.

But, she keeps having
lots of kittens.

She needs to be caught.

-Oh.
-Last winter. .

-Mellissa?
-Yeah?

-She ate her babies.
-Ate them?

I was like,
"I didn’t know cats did that. "

It’s gonna be
an interesting winter.

Mhm.

(bird cawing)

♪

The cats are dying.

A lot of them do freeze,

and they’re also starving.

I believe tonight
is gonna be -11,

and that’s pretty cold.

So, we’re gonna be
doing some trapping

in the next couple of days.

We put the traps out
with some food,

and a lot of times
we just wait around.

So, hopefully we have
five to six cats

tomorrow morning,
and going to the vet.

(whirring)

♪

-Morning.
-Good morning.

How are you?
You’re supposed to be sleeping.

I know.

Here we go.

Oh, smaller, yes.

Hey, there he is.

Yes, hello.

-Okay, got it?
-Yeah.

You take. . you take this one.

-Okay.
-Okay?

Maarten and I, we’re the only
two people in Cornwall

that do the trapping.

75 cats over 3 years,
which is quite good.

Maarten, strong willed,
hard head.

Loves animals for sure.

He’s a good friend.

We both love cats,
and we have to do

what we have to do.

(indistinct remarks)

But, I’ve been dealing
with Lynda for five years,

so she knows what’s going on.

-Probably 4:00.
-Okay, I’ll be here.

Okay, thanks, talk to you later.

-Appreciate it.
-Bye.

♪

(thudding)

Here in Cornwall the vet
charges way too much money.

So, that’s why we go to
Saint-Zotique, Quebec.

So, the prices in Saint-Zotique
are about $130 for a male,

and $155 for a female.

To get a cat spayed or neutered
in Cornwall is $500.

♪

(meowing)

♪

(clicking)

♪

We’re gonna take
the traps in first, right?

-Yeah.
-Yeah, we’ll come back

for the carriers.

♪

Right, big fella?

Not happy, eh?

This ones a scared one.

Here, don’t worry,
nobody’s gonna hurt ya.

You’re gonna be fine.

-Hello, good morning.
-How are you?

Good, how are you?

(speaking French)

♪

So, from here,
Jen takes ’em into that room,

checks them over and everything.

(creaking)

(phone ringing)

-How many traps am I paying for?
-Three.

-Three, yep.
-Three traps?

I was able to raise the funds
through my supporters

for the three or four
that are getting done today.

(meowing)

I have to constantly
ask people for money,

which I really hate doing.

But, if I don’t ask for help,
then we don’t make progress.

(buzzing)

We need a better plan, we have
tons of kittens being born,

tons of ferals reproducing,
like, it’s just never ending.

(humming)

There’s like so many of them
dying outside, the cats,

they’re dying outside.

(buzzing)

(phone ringing)

(beeping)

(speaking French)

(clinking)

(beeping)

My name is Lousie Lavallé

I’m a veterinarian
who does surgeries,

principally spaying
and neutering for shelter cats,

community cats,
people with low income.

(indistinct remarks)

♪

I would like municipalities
or governments

having regulations,
so every animal that is sold

in a pet store
or from breeders are fixed.

Because, me,
I’m doing sterilization.

But, the problem,
I’m always doing sterilization.

I want this to decrease.

But, if there is
always animals coming

that are not sterilized.

(beeping)

It’s like
when you have a problem

with your water and your tap.

The water is running over
the sink on your floor.

You’re gonna get a towel
to remove all the water.

But, you’re gonna
close the tap first, okay.

That’s the same thing
for the cats.

Somebody has to close the tap.

(beeping)

♪

(chimes dinging)

(indistinct remarks)

Yeah, that’s the one.

Okay, you.

-Thank you, Lynda.
-You’re welcome, thank you.

(meowing)

(chirping)

Wow, that’s fascinating.

♪

The TNR cats always
come together in a group.

♪

(meowing)

♪

Oh, that’s, uh, Guimauve.

(meowing)

The water’s frozen.

He’s pulling
the water bowl towards him.

He’s trying to break the ice.

♪

He’s pretty determined
to get a drink.

♪

He’s using his head.

♪

That’s hilarious.

Guimauve,
he’s very, very curious,

and he’s the one I’m most
concerned about in the summer.

He’s going to get himself
in trouble.

♪

Maybe if people could see
these movies of them,

they wouldn’t be so anxious,
you know, to hurt them,

poison them, trap them.

Like the guy that poisoned
all the cats on the street.

(cat mewing)

When people like me
are feeding the feral cats,

they’re no longer going
into the garbage.

There’s no fights on the street.

But still,
people don’t want the cats.

♪

I don’t know why
he’s chubby like that,

but he’s got a real cute,
lovable character.

♪

He would have made a good pet.

♪

The cats are all over.

I am finding out more
and more from other people

that they are
having problems as well

and they are feeding
ten cats or more.

I am thinking,
okay, how many houses,

how many people are doing this?

I can’t save them all.

As of three weeks ago,

we were about 5,000
still in debt

and that’s a lot of money.

That’s crazy.

The city of Cornwall.
It’s just frustrating.

It takes so friggin’ long
to get anywhere.

Which, I get, like,
it’s not their priority,

but. . the kittens are coming.

Truly, I think they’re ignoring
us right now.

(telephone ringing)

You have reached the building
and bylaw department.

If you are calling
to schedule an inspection

or to make a bylaw complaint,

please leave me a message
and I’ll call you back.

Thank you.

(dial tone)

♪

(hum of passing traffic)

We’re both getting fed up.

Like it’s time to get
the money into the budget.

Like, don’t fool around with us
anymore, we’re done.

♪

Next week is Christmas,

and I’m thinking about
the bloody cats.

Minus twenty or whatever.

That kills me, it really does.

So you sort of feel defeated
in a way.

But you can’t let it
get you down,

you gotta keep on going.

I got hooked up
with a woman named Brigit

and I had no idea,

Lynda lives like one minute away
around the corner.

So close, we’re talking like
another 10 cats in one house.

Her and her husband,
they’re feeding the cats

but they’re also multiplying
because they can’t afford

to spay or neuter them.

We should have a meeting
one night, we should all

get together and just try
and get other people involved.

I want to find out if
there’s more houses like this.

-I really, really do.
-I’m sure there is

because I’ve heard rumors
and neighbors talk.

So there’s a couple of people
down the street here

who are feeding and I want to
find out who it is.

There’s a cat right there,
there’s a cat right there,

right across the street.

There’s lots of cats here.

I’ve left three traps
at Brigit’s,

gone over everything with her,

and hopefully all goes well.

♪

(crow cawing)

♪

My name is Brigit Lueck

and I am just recently
from Vancouver.

Oh my God.

I came here and I’m like,
"What’s up with all the cats?

They’re, like, everywhere. "

Okay.

♪

Here, there is
no organized strategy

around the feral cats.

A lot of people
are pretty overwhelmed.

Like, that’s kind of what
happened with us too

when we came here.

Can you get that one?

We just couldn’t, you know,

neuter like 12 cats that
are coming through, right?

So it’s an overwhelming
situation at the moment.

-How are you?
-Hello.

Hey, how are you?

It’s okay.
You have a pretty tail too, eh?

Different colors.
Different colors.

Okay.

(hum of passing traffic)

He’s really heavy.

I think it’s a male
just by the size of his face

and of his neck.

They develop more muscle
when they are male

because of the testosterone.

Of course, he’s still stressed,

but we’re going to try to have
him come here.

Come, come.

-(cat hisses)
-Okay.

(hisses)

♪

(clippers buzzing)

♪

(cat meowing)

Okay.

Ready? Hold on.

♪

Perfect.

Happy.

Great.

Okay. Ohh.

♪

(crows cawing)

Are you alert?
I put a little bit of food here

just to see if she’d eat
and she did eat.

So she’s alert,
and I think ready to go.

♪

(cat mewling)

♪

(cat yowling)

Okay.
This one is a little bit upset.

That’s also a good sign because
she’s a fighter, obviously.

(cat yowling)

♪

(cat yowling)

You ready, pumpkin?

(bird cawing)

♪

Taking his time, actually.

♪

(crunching)

(bird chittering)

♪

That’s it.

Three trapped, three released.

♪

Right now, I don’t think science
has really figured out

what is best in all situations.

It’s hard to say
if trap-neuter-release

is actually effective
at reducing cat populations.

We might reduce
the original number of cats

that were in a
trap-neuter-release colony,

but you can still have cats
come into that colony

from other areas.

For it to be effective,
it would need to be continuous.

Every cat that comes
into that population,

we’d need to make sure that
it is spayed or neutered.

♪

♪

(soft lapping)

(soft mewing)

(bell jingling)

Boys, boys.

You’re such bad boys, stop.

♪

(cats mewing, chittering)

♪

They all have homes,
we’re just waiting to figure out

when the families can arrange
for me to drop them off.

I just prefer to see
where they’re going

because it makes me feel
a little bit better

when they leave me.

So, yeah, I always drop them off
no matter how far it is.

Get back down.

(she laughs)

Monkey, that’s why
we don’t open the window.

Today, he is going to go to
his forever home, unfortunately.

Well, I mean, it’s bittersweet.

It’s happy because
he’s gonna have more space

and a family who can give him
more attention.

But it’s always bittersweet
when they leave.

(soft purring)

♪

Ready to go, bud?

(meowing)

♪

(soft meowing)

♪

Jackson must wonder
what’s going on today.

-Hello!
-Go see!

Let him go.

What’s that?

Just let him do his thing,
honey.

Are you purring, lovebug?

(meowing)

♪

Okay, we have
microchip information.

So you send it back to them
with your information

so that it changes over to you
instead of me.

Okay.

This is his vaccination record.

Okay.

And it does say
he’s due for his next one,

so you’ve made that appointment.

Yup.

So then when I go to my
November 11th appointment,

I’ll just bring that
and that’s. .

You can.

to show them
what he’s had done, right?

Okay, okay.
Perfect.

-Easy enough.
-Mm-hm.

That’s it.

Your mama’s going,
your mama, she going?

Yeah.

-Yeah.
-He might be getting sleepy.

You need to give him
a big squeeze and a big hug.

Bye, babe.

Say, you did a good job, Mama.

Hey? Look at you.

♪

Yeah.

Aww.

♪

How are you feeling right now?

Fine, actually, because
they’re such great people

that it makes it
just, like, easy.

♪

(rumble of car
and passing traffic)

(bird cawing)

♪

The TNR was wonderful,

but they’re collecting friends.

♪

(cat mews)

♪

(cat mewing)

♪

(food rattling in can)

♪

I don’t mind the ones
that I was made responsible for,

the ones that got TNR’d.

It’s that now I’m seeing
multiple cats

that I haven’t seen before

and I don’t know how they
communicate with each other,

how they all end up
understanding that that house

has two little females
that are not fixed

and there’s males coming
from blocks away

to mate with the cats.

I mean, all you need
is two cats out, right?

One male, one female,
and off we go again.

♪

And it’s going to be
a real issue with neighbors.

A real issue.

There’s going to be some
very unhappy neighbors.

I’m afraid for the cats
in the summer,

like I can’t protect them.

♪

(crow cawing)

♪

Australia
is taking drastic measures

to control its cat population.

Government officials are
launching a campaign

to kill more than
two million cats.

Ecologists say feral cats are
responsible for the extinctions

of more than two dozen
native Australian species.

What to do with
all these stray cats

has long been a problem here.

Japan has vowed to control
the wild cat problem

in time for the Olympic Games.

(announcer speaking in French)

Cats are an invasive species,

so bad, they’re killing billions
of animals a year.

♪

It’s an instinct in cats

when they see something small
move along in front of them

they just have to go for it.

It’s not the cats’ fault at all.

♪

I’m Hannah Lockwood
and I research

the impact of domestic cats
on prey populations.

So, this is a cat skull.

First, you’ll notice
these huge eyes

which gives them great depth
perception for stalking

and pouncing on prey.

They also have a separate organ

which is located
behind the retina,

and that bounces light back
through the retina and back out.

And that’s why you get
the eye shine

if you ever take a photo
of a cat with the flash on.

This is a bank vole skull,

and it would get it just
straight by the neck

and eat it pretty much whole

and then deliver a killing bite
with their sharp teeth.

♪

So that’s the cat skull.

(car horn honks)

The issue of there being
cats in the environment

is one of the few, I think,

solvable environmental issues
that we have.

And so it’s going to be
up to us,

and that includes cat owners,

it’s going to include
our shelter systems,

it’s going to include
governments as well.

We all generally want
the same thing.

We want what’s best for cats.

We want to reduce the number
of cats that are outside,

and we want
to reduce the impacts

that they have
on the environment.

So, something’s happened here.
It looks like the cat p. .

oop, yeah, it did.

There’s a chipmunk in its mouth.

And it’s dropped
the chipmunk now.

So, there’s a few things we’re
hoping to do with this work

and maybe there’s guidelines

that we can come about
from this study

that can help cat owners.

If they do feel they have
to put their cat outside,

we can provide some guidelines
on what’s best

for their cat.

-Hey, come on in.
-Hello, how are you?

Good, come on in.

Okay, I’ll show you
two videos here.

♪

So, I think
he’s just in your yard.

Maybe he’s in
someone else’s yard.

You see his head.

He’s doing something,
he just caught something.

-Oh, oh!
-Mouse.

No! Little critter.

So that’s in his jaws right now?

-That’s in his jaws.
-Oh man.

Oh my gosh!

Yeah, so he actually
captured stuff.

♪

Look what you’ve done.
Are you proud of yourself?

♪

So, when I talk to cat owners,

I try to talk about
whether a cat

should belong inside
or if it should be outside.

And certainly, we know
that when cats are outside,

they get more exercise.

But the risk to the cat of being
outside, in my opinion,

is far greater
than those benefits.

And what cat owners
really care about

is their cats
and their cats’ wellbeing.

♪

Comin’ out, bud?

(whistles)

♪

Well, I think the public
well understands

that cats sometimes
kill other animals.

I mean, they’re predators

and that’s what they’re designed
to do,

and cats are not malicious. .

or maybe they are
in some cases. .

but, again, the problem is,
there are just so many cats,

uh, and they’re so good
at what they do,

that, uh, literally,
millions of birds

are being killed every year
and they can least afford it.

We need to help these
populations that are declining

because they’re really integral
to our forest

and grassland ecosystems.

A healthy nature.

And somebody’s cat might
bring back one bird

every couple of weeks
and they think,

"Well, that’s too bad.
Bad kitty. "

It’s not really a problem

until you count up how many cats
there are.

And with millions of cats
in Canada, that adds up.

That makes a huge difference.

That’s okay. Come on.

(mewing)

Yes, baby. Hi.

Yes.

I lost three babies recently.

One just never grew, he was like
newborn size at two weeks old.

And the other one,
she was born without a bladder.

So they had to euthanize her
right there.

She was only four weeks old.

♪

Look at your little faces.

(soft mewing)

Are you nursin’ ’em?

I cry for a few days
but then it’s. . move on,

’cause I still had other ones
to save, so. .

♪

These are my two foster babies,
Indy and Ace.

They were being given away
at four weeks old,

which is obviously too young,
so I took them.

♪

-They are doing fine?
-They’re doing good.

I had antibiotics ready
but I didn’t need it.

Okay, good.

♪

-You did a good job.
-Thank you.

-They are pretty big.
-Yup.

So. .
Okay, two pounds and a quarter.

♪

-She didn’t even know.
-No, no, no.

♪

Mellissa, she’s well organized.

♪

It’s not everybody
that can deal with orphans.

♪

Giving is good, giving your time
with the animal is good,

but you have to realize
that you have

a certain limit because. .

you can get lost.

(cats meowing)

♪

Okay, so this is
both certificates.

-Okay, thank you.
-You’re welcome.

♪

Most of us see a roaming cat
as a nuisance

that defecates
in our garden bed,

it mates at one o’clock
in the morning

in the middle of the street,
that’s the level of our concern.

But cats do impact negatively
on our environment.

The only humane way to deal
with the cat population

is through spay
and neutering them.

Without it,
it’s totally uncontrolled.

And my feeling was

that people expected something
to be done about it.

So we conducted a survey
basically saying,

what do you think about it,
what a bylaw might look like?

♪

One of the leading questions,
of course, was

do you think we have a cat
overpopulation problem

in Cornwall and that something
needs to be done about it?

Bestow ownership on individuals,

require that all cats be kept
indoors unless supervised,

limit the number of cats
in the household to two.

Very important, of course,
to have community input.

♪

We’ve been affected by it.

It’s quite an ongoing issue.

It’s getting out of control,
that’s for sure.

We have to do something
about it.

♪

We were simply surprised
at the level of response

to a cat problem.

♪

This is not
my neighbor’s problem,

this is not my problem,

this is the entire
community’s problem

and it’s not going to go away.

We have to accept that something
has to be done about it

and there’s probably going to be
a cost to that.

What I recommended to council
is that in the 2020 budget

we allocate $40,000
to subsidizing the cost

of spay and neutering.

That’s a start.

♪

The bylaw that Chris
wants to try and get through,

"If you feed it, you own it,"

that is scaring people.

I don’t want people
to be scared

and I don’t want people to say,

"Oh Lord,
there’s a cat out there,

we can’t be responsible
for it. "

♪

The fact that somebody
has enough charity

to give an animal a little
better chance to survive

means you own them
is a strange one,

as far as I’m concerned.

It goes along with the idea that
if you give somebody some money

when they’re begging
that you own that person.

Makes just as much sense.

♪

People like Lynda, she’s going
to take care of them,

and even if the bylaw passes
many people are still going to.

They don’t want
to see the cats suffer,

so I don’t blame them.

Simply feeding a cat,
absolutely, that’s important.

But if that cat is not spayed
and neutered,

it’s fueling a cat population

that we’re trying
to get under control.

I should just put it down here.

(bird chirping)

(hum of passing traffic)

♪

The city of Cornwall
could become

the first municipality
in Ontario

to require cats
to be kept indoors.

City staff are proposing
a cat bylaw

with a number of suggestions:

all cats must be
spayed and neutered,

felines must be kept indoors,

and most extreme,
anybody who feeds a stray cat

legally becomes its owner.

But that report came out in May
and nothing has happened since.

(giggling)

You feel sleepy?

(kittens mewing)

We’ve gone through
a whole kitten season

and there’s still no money
in the budget,

so it is frustrating.

There’s the purring.
Good girl.

But hopefully moving forward,

there will be more help
for kittens like them

because I can’t keep up.

(mewing)

(hum of passing traffic)

How are the cats?

♪

The weather’s getting better,

they were wandering
a little bit more.

Then Guimauve disappeared.

♪

He was here, he ate his evening
meal with the rest of them.

Spencer and Guimave,
I have a picture

of the two of them
snuggled up together

and then that was it,
Guimauve didn’t come back.

♪

I know he’s not lost in the area

because he had such a strong tie
to that porch.

And I think Guimauve, his
stomach told him where to go

and a trap that’s set
will have food.

♪

I did some looking around.

There’s three neighbors
that have traps here.

♪

When I ask them,
they won’t answer,

so that’s difficult, knowing
that somebody probably

has done something.

♪

My neighbors were aware
what I was doing.

♪

There’s a lot of people
that just aren’t on board.

It was really tragic.

♪

Spencer spent about three or
four days wandering around,

crying, looking for Guimauve,

they were really close.

♪

They have souls.

They can’t think like humans,
but they have souls.

So you do feel responsible,

that it was my duty
to keep them safe.

But there’s no boundaries
for feral cats.

♪

(wind blowing,
birds chirping)

♪

It’s pretty worldwide now.

I have people from all over
following, which is crazy.

♪

If nobody ever talked about it,
we wouldn’t make progress.

So, I’m glad that people
are starting to realize

that we have a problem

and they’re going to have
to do something.

♪

(wind blowing)

(thunder rumbling)

-I’m hot.
-Anybody gonna come and join us?

(thunder rumbling)

Okay, let’s move. .
wanna move over,

so we’re not blocking.

Stand right in front
of the doorway.

Is your sign waterproof?

I have no idea.

♪

(car horn honks, woman yells)

Hey, maybe. .

We have people.

Over there.

(car horns honking)

I don’t know them.

-Are they with us?
-Yeah.

-Really?
-I think so.

Thank you!

(car horns honking)

♪

(car horns honking,
people cheering)

Hi, I’m Mellissa.
Nice to meet you.

-Hi, Mellissa.
-Thanks for coming, guys.

You’re so welcome.

-Love all your signs.
-Thank you!

-Very nice, wow.
-Yours are waterproof.

(laughter)

Thanks so much for everything
you do, by the way.

I follow the page
like a crazy person.

(overlapping chatter)

-This is good.
-I know, I wanna get a picture.

(car horns honking, cheering)

Let’s get started.
Sorry for the delay.

It’s nice to have
a full council chamber.

The recommendation
is that council

implement a cat control bylaw

vitally supported by funding,

in support
of a five-year timeline

in which all owned cats
are to be desexed.

Councillor Grant,
you’re seconding.

Debate.

So, Your Worship,

I’m not completely convinced
we can necessarily implement

all these regulations.

How do we realistically
expect to enforce

some of these provisions?

I mean, to say, "All cats have
to be kept indoors. "

Well, if there’s a random cat
wandering the neighborhood,

how do we know who officially
owns that cat?

Are we going to
give this person a ticket?

Through you, Madam Mayor,
that’s why it’s vital

that cats be licensed.

So, hopefully,
that cat that is roaming

can be linked to its owner
by virtue of a tag.

Okay, thank you.

Councillor Bergeron
and then Councillor Grant.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

So, when you say cats
must be kept inside,

as long as they were controlled
in their own yard,

would you accept that, or. .

So, it’s really about ensuring
that once a cat is outside

that it’s supervised.

Yes, yeah.

One thing I want to think about
is long term

and if everybody’s religious
in this

we won’t have a cat problem
because we won’t have any cats.

(crowd murmuring)

When you think about it,
so, I mean. .

Through you, Madam Mayor,
no bylaw

is a hundred percent
enforceable.

There’s a speed limit out here,
in front of this building,

it’s 50 kilometers an hour.

Uh, I’m sure if I asked everyone
in this room

if they have exceeded that
50 miles an hour,

if they were honest,
they’d say yes.

Bylaws, they build expectation

and certainly, there’s that
carrot that says,

"Oh, if you don’t live up
to that expectation,

there could be
punitive repercussions. "

I live in the West End,
and I don’t. .

we don’t have a roaming cat
problem, that I know.

Yes, you do.
Yes, you do.

Is there an area in town
that’s more concentrated

and is more concerned where this
bylaw would really be effective?

This has been going on since,

I think I was in council
15 years ago

and we were talking about
feral cats then.

Something has to be done,

and we’re going to do it
tonight.

So I’m going to call the vote.

All in favor?

(crowd murmuring)

Carried.

Thank you.

(applause, cheering)

(chatter)

We did it!

-We did it.
-We did it.

-So far.
-Yeah.

We still have progress to make.

We can’t, there’s no way
it’s going backwards now.

No, there’s just no way.

They can’t now.

If it’s a five-year plan,
that’s still really long.

That’s a lot of kittens that
could be born in five years.

But five years is still better
than zero years.

Like, at least
we’re moving forward.

And finally, they’re going to do
something about it.

A lot of them don’t agree on the
"Feed it, you own it" bylaw,

which I don’t either,
but that’s one of the problems.

We’ll figure it out over
the years and we’ll iron it out.

♪

The lifespan of cats
is much shorter

if you have them
as outdoor cats,

and yet some cat owners
still believe,

"My cat will be unhappy
if it’s indoors,

so I’d rather let it outside
where it’s dangerous. "

♪

I mean, humans are smart,

but at the same time,
they’re very simpleminded

because it’s an easy fix

to encourage people
to keep their cats indoors.

It’s harder
to put the forest back.

♪

Mellissa Alepins
and Mary Jane Proulx.

Extraordinary people,

extraordinarily compassionate,
caring,

and, you know, not expecting any
sort of acknowledgement for it.

Just doing it out of sheer
compassion and caring.

After all, we domesticated
these animals, right?

They can no longer
look after themselves.

♪

I guess at this point,
we’re just waiting to see

when they’re gonna actually
make the money official

and then pass the bylaws.

I’ll probably do this forever.

I love it, so in that sense,
it’s good that there’s no end,

but it’s really sad because
these are generally orphans

that I take,
so they don’t have a mom.

And it took us, Mellissa and I,
to fight this hard.

We had to have protests
and we had to fight,

and I had to run for council.

Like run for council,
me run for council? Come on.

♪

It pays to fight.
It really does.

If you have a passion
and if you believe

you’re doing the right thing,
do it.

♪

A cat can have
thousands of babies

and then their babies
have babies

and then their babies
have babies.

It just never ends.

♪

Never ends.

♪

(cat meowing)

♪

♪