Care For Your Pet

Pet waste can be smelly, unattractive and even a health issue. Be a responsible dog owner and always carry a plastic bag with you to pick-up your pet's poop whenever you are off your property and deposit it in a garbage container.

Know the Bylaw Rules for Pet Ownership

Enforcement Services strives to ensure the safe, healthy and peaceful enjoyment of Leduc’s neighbourhoods for all citizens by promoting responsible and considerate pet ownership. Please do your part to ensure your cat or dog is a healthy pet and companion. Care for your pet for its lifetime; as well, respect your neighbour’s property and choice not to have a pet.

Licence & Identify

  • Licences and permanent ID (tattoo/microchip) help lost cats and dogs get home.
  • The licence tag must be securely fastened to the collar the cat or dog is wearing when it is off the property of the owner.
  • Cats and dogs over the age of 6 months must be licenced.

Spay & Neuter

  • Ensures happier, healthier companions.
  • Reduces over-population and unwanted pets.
  • Curbs your pet’s urges to fight, bite, spray and roam.
  • Saves on licence fees.

Keep Cats Indoors

Enforcement Services strongly recommends keeping cats indoors because indoor cats live longer, healthier and safer lives. The average life span of an indoor cat is 12 - 15 years compared to 2 - 5 years for an outdoor cat.

Outdoor cats face dangers such as traffic, unfriendly animals, poisons, diseases, frostbite, dehydration and abuse from humans. Cats kept inside require less veterinarian care for problems more often associated to roaming cats such as fleas, ticks, worms and diarrhea.

Outdoor cats are more likely to get lost and searching for a lost cat is a time-consuming and often heartbreaking experience. Cats wandering outside can be legally trapped by a neighbour and turned over to the pound.

The Edmonton Humane Society recommends that domestic felines be kept indoors, or allowed outdoors only when in an enclosed area or on a leash/tie-out with appropriate supervision.

Cats raised indoors are perfectly content with their world. Cats that have experienced the outdoors will need some time to adjust to indoor status. A few things you can do to keep your cat happy indoors:

  • Keep fresh water and food at hand.
  • Provide a litter box.
  • Open screened windows to let in some fresh air.
  • Provide your cat with toys and a scratching post for exercise.

Animal Control Bylaw 580-2004

Not everyone appreciates cats around their home. The City of Leduc Animal Licencing and Control Bylaw states,

“The Owner or any other person having care or control of a Cat shall ensure that the Cat does not enter onto property other than the property of the Owner, unless the Cat is on a leash not exceeding two meters in length or the person in charge of the property consents to the Cat being there."

Stop Cats Roaming

  • Keep your cat indoors.
  • Inform an owner that their roaming cat is a nuisance in your yard.
  • Register an animal complaint and obtain a cat trap.
  • Humanely trap and contact Enforcement Services at 780-980-1537 to make arrangements to transport the cat to the kennel.

Making Your Property Less Inviting

Cats can be trained not to enter your yard simply by making your property unpleasant:

  • Place mesh netting (angled outwards) or PVC pipe at the top of your fence to prevent cats from climbing over.
  • Bury chicken wire just below the surface of your flowerbeds to discourage digging and cover the bed with bark chips or gravel so it is rough.
  • Remove food sources by not feeding your dog or cat outside. Stray cats will frequent your yard if there is a reliable food source.
  • Grow a garden of plants that are repulsive to cats. Plant peppermint, geranium, rue, lavender, garlic, lemon grass and thyme along the perimeter of your yard to keep cats from entering.
  • Scatter pinecones in the areas the cats like to visit, especially under bushes. Ponderosa or other prickly cones work best.
  • Buy a commercial cat repellent and scatter or spray it in the places where the cats are doing their business.

Sandboxes

Beware that sandboxes can be used as large litter boxes by cats. Various bacteria and parasites that can cause disease in people can be present in the feces. Children playing in a sandbox are not aware of what they should or shouldn’t be picking up.