OSPCA looks to bring cat clinic to Cornwall, mayor says

Cat rescue group members crack a smile as Cornwall Mayor Leslie O'Shaughnessy tells council on Monday, July 9, 2018 that a low-cost spay and neuter program is being planned by the OSPCA for this fall. The city has been trying to deal with a feral cat problem and has been working on a new law. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)

CORNWALL – While the city is still working on a cat control law, a low-cost SPCA spay and neuter program may be coming to Cornwall this fall or sooner.

Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy told councillors last night (Monday) that there have been requests from the humane society for space to set up the mobile clinic unit, possibly sometime in October.

The question now will be how much city taxpayers will be subsidizing the clinic to come here. That will be coming in a report for an upcoming council meeting.

Based on previous estimates by city staff, it costs about $4,000 to sterilize 40 cats. Right now there is no money in the city budget earmarked for the project.

Cat rescue group members and pro-cat people, sitting in the public gallery, seemed to be overjoyed with the news from the mayor.

The last time the OSPCA did some sort of cat control in the city was in 2008 when a $60,000 trap-neuter-return (TNR) program addressed the feral cat problem.