A 100 Mile House woman is planning to rally for justice for her recently dead cat that she believes was the victim of illegal cat trapping.
Sarah Smith said her cat Bumpers was last spotted napping on her Spruce Avenue driveway around noon last Monday, April 18. She didn’t come in later that day, which Smith said was out of character for the grey and white long-haired cat, noting she rarely wandered further than their property.
“She doesn’t leave our driveway, and she is very prissy and clean,” she said. “She will actually scratch on the door to come in the house and use her litter box.”
Smith’s worst fears came true a few days later when she checked a local Facebook page and saw a photo of her cat dead on the side of a road. What struck her as odd, she said, was that her cat had been found on Exeter Road, near the South Cariboo Landfill, more than five kilometres from her house. According to the post, the cat had been found on Tuesday around 5:30 p.m.
“The last time I saw her she was suntanning in my driveway and she does not wander,” Smith said. “How did she end up all the way down a logging road so far away?”
Smith’s second cat, Gizmo, is also missing after disappearing three days after Bumpers did.
Adding more stress to the situation, Smith said she and her children are moving to Prince George in a matter of days and don’t want to leave Gizmo behind.
Last May, the Williams Lake SPCA issued a warning to cat owners following reports that felines were being trapped and relocated to remote areas in the South Cariboo. At the time, Linda Malek who also lived on Spruce Avenue, told the Free Press she suspected her missing cat, Misty, was a victim of a neighbour who was allegedly trapping cats in his yard with fresh fish.
Malek, who has since moved away from Spruce Avenue, found Misty alive but injured more than seven months later near 105 Mile.
The SPCA is investigating the latest reports of cats missing from the neighbourhood, but Smith said she was told by the animal protection officer that unless there is a witness or surveillance footage of someone taking the cats, there is not much that can be done.
The officer had plans to visit this week and examine Bumpers’ body, which was returned to Smith by the person who found her.
She has also opened a file with the 100 Mile House RCMP, who did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.
Liz Dighton, manager of the Williams Lake SPCA branch said that while it’s possible cats could be getting trapped, cats are capable of roaming quite far, especially if they are not fixed and are in search of a mate.
“Cats can roam from three to five kilometres away in one day,” Dighton said. “And if they’re on a mission for mating purposes that can be a lot further.”
The best bet for keeping cats safe and prolonging their lives, Dighton said, is to keep them indoors.
Smith - who noted both Bumpers and Gizmo were fixed - is planning to rally on Spruce Avenue with other concerned neighbours on Friday at 6 p.m.
“This should have stopped last year at Misty,” she said. “I can’t believe this is still happening. This is a family member, it’s not just a cat.”
melissa,smalley@100milefreepress.net
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