Report missing pets to bylaw officer

By Jamie Rieger
A number of cats have reportedly gone missing and somebody has been going around town and letting dogs out, but according to bylaw officer, Jason Schreiber, his phone hasn’t been ringing off the hook with incoming complaints.
“With cats, it’s frustrating because there are a lot of assumptions and rumors going around, rather than contacting me,” said Schreiber.“Everybody wants to find somebody responsible, even if it means there is no justification for the accusation.”
One such incident involved a call about somebody presumably had a cat trap in their yard and called Schreiber to file a complaint.
“One resident believed he saw a town cat trap in a yard and called me. Yet, our cat trap was in our office when he said it was where he saw it. Then the fingers started pointing elsewhere,” said Schreiber, adding that somebody may have purchased a trap elsewhere without his knowledge.
Schreiber noted that cat owner will often let their cat outdoors to roam and not see it again until it come sauntering back weeks later.
“Many cat owners feel it’s okay for their cats to wander, then they don’t call me for a couple weeks because it may come home,” he said.
For those cats that do not make the return trip home, there could be several reasons why.
“From my perspective, there are a number of different scenarios and possibilities. For example, there has been a coyote spotted in town and coyotes will see cats as just another source of prey. Also, cats do get run over by vehicles,” he said.
Schreiber keeps a photo library of people’s pets, so if the animal is reported missing, there will be a better chance of tracking it down.
Schreiber has also received only a couple of phone calls over the last three years of somebody entering yards and letting dogs loose.
“I ask people to be observant in their neighbourhoods and report it if this is happening,” he said.
“Some owners have returned home and found their gate open. In the first situation, it was winter and at about 10:00 am or noon and in the stretch of a couple hours I had four phone calls,” said Schreiber. “One could see fresh tracks in the snow.”
“The best thing to do is to contact me. I keep records and am able to talk to residents more. We aren’t really getting notified, but if they contact us, we can help,” he said.
Schreiber can be reached by calling the town office at 403-545-2522 or via email at bylaw@bowisland.com