Post in Elite (licensed) feline owners, unite!

Mar 22 14:31 UTC

I cannot open the link to the PDF file in the original post.  I'd like to see
the rationale for these initiatives.  Can somebody relink?

Is there a big problem in this city with indoor cats transmitting disease?
What is the rationale for additional enforcement?  My initial impression is
that this is government gone wild, the kind of thing that motivates people to
vote Republican or Libertarian.

Legislation should remedy a problem or address an exigency.  When it does not,
it is a sign of:  (a) bureaucrats with too much time on their hands; (b)
leaders who are unable to identify real problems; or (c) a money grab that
inflates government at the expense of individuals.

Without further information, it seems that this initiative most likely falls
under the last category, an attempt to raise funds.  I'm all for users paying
for their own services.  I believe, for example, that car owners should bear
the burden of paying for construction and maintenance of roads and highways
with license fees and gas taxes and toll roads.  But taxing indoor cat owners
for the services of animal control does not follow this logic.  Animal control
deals primarily with issues of bats and raccoons and people who do not keep
their dogs behind fences, none of which has anything to do with owning an
indoor cat.

I also understand that the primary rationale for licensing cats and dogs is to
ensure vaccination against rabies, and hence protection of people (correct me
if I'm wrong here).  Yet canine/feline transmission of rabies to humans is
nonexistent in the developed world, including in the United States.  From some
research I did a few months ago, I learned that the only cases of suspected
canine transmission of rabies in this country are from people who had been
traveling in poor countries.  Most domestic cases of rabies are from bats and
raccoons.  Certainly no suspected cases from any cat, much less indoor cats.

To sum it up, I cannot see an evident rationale for increased enforcement.
Perhaps others on this list can enlighten me.  Until then, I'll take this as
another example of city government gone amuck, trying to raise a buck.

Michael Mackey,
Uptown