The mayor of Fort Saskatchewan apologized on Thursday for comments she made earlier this week about killing feral cats.
“I sincerely apologize for the remarks and any hurt they may have caused,” Mayor Gale Katchur said in a written statement. “As the City of Fort Saskatchewan’s mayor, I represent our community’s commitment to humane and thoughtful approaches to all issues, including animal management. I deeply regret that my comments fell short of this standard.”
“Moving forward, I will ensure that my comments and our approach to managing animal populations reflect our community’s dedication to humane and responsible practices.”
Katchur’s comments were made during a committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday during a discussion about feral cats.
“When it comes to feral cats, it would be cruel to say, but it would be interesting if people could deal with them themselves. Like, I’m going to say, in the old days when you lived on the farm,” Fort Saskatchewan Mayor Gale Katchur said with a chuckle.
“When you lived on the farm, if there was (sic) cats, you threw them in a bag and threw them in the river or they just put them on the exhaust pipes,” she said, chuckling a second time.
Her comments were in regards to a proposal by city staff that feral cats be relocated to a rural outdoor residence or farm.
After the farm comments, she also remarked, “I hope that doesn’t get captured anywhere.”
The City of Fort Saskatchewan publishes a recording of city meetings to YouTube.
A presentation to the committee by city staff showed in 2023, Fort Saskatchewan had 66 cat complaints, 33 reports of cats at large, and three feral cat reports.
The numbers were actually down from 2022, when there were 101 cat complaints, 92 cats at large reported, and three feral cat reports.
In the presentation, the city defined a feral cat as wild or born in a wild state and aggressive or difficult to catch and handle.
A cat at large is defined in the presentation as socialized to people, lost or abandoned.