Cats & Cat Health

Story by Maude Standis

A little known Chicago law makes it illegal to own outdoor cats. I was unaware of this until the other day when I opened my front door and a cop spied my mean street cat prancing up the stairs for his breakfast.

“Miss?” the cop asked. “Is that you cat?” At first I ignored this city’s civil servant dressed in her crisp blue costume of authority and started to talk to my roommate who was locking her bike to the neighbor’s fence.

The cop, not liking my disdain for her ticketing powers informed me that it was illegal, yes illegal, to own an outdoor cat in Chicago. And that she had the authority to drag me down to court, impound my cat and ticket me for up to $500. I scooped up my cat and placed him inside. Not wanting to mess with this poor woman’s obvious ego issues, I didn’t object to the ridiculousness of such a law, rather I politely asked, why outdoor cats would ever be illegal?

“Because the neighbors don’t like them, and they pee on lawns making them smell bad, and they eat birds, and other small critters.”

She then told me she was going to let me off this time, but that I better keep my cat locked up, because she would be back to check up on me and then resumed issuing tickets to cars without permits.

Thinking that this lady was just obsessive enough to be back, I figured I should check out the law. Turns out, she was right. It is illegal to have outdoor cats in Chicago. But while she could impound my outdoor cat, she had not right to ticket me or take me to court.

The law dictates that a stray animal, such as my grey and white darling, on public property or upon private premises of any person other than the owner shall be immediately impounded by an animal control officer. A representative from the City Clerk said that they were not sure when exactly this became the law, but that he believed that it happened when Chicago’s municipal was rewritten in the 1950s.

So for the last 60 odd years all of these cats promenading up and down the sidewalk, climbing fences, striking down finches and returning to our homes have been illegal.

Tammie Bouscher of the Anti-Cruelty Society says the definition of a “stray” has little to do with whether the cat has a home. “It’s the roaming that is important,” she said. “The actually being on somebody’s property other than the owner’s that is important.” She explained that because it was impossible to keep an outdoor cat on your own property, they are de facto illegal.

Bouscher added many residents probably call animal control over a dispute with a neighbor rather than because of concern for the cat, and that domesticated cats are routinely impounded because they are mistaken for feral.

“It happens all the time,” she said. “By Chicago law, cats are supposed to be confined to the home or yard, and it is impossible to confine them in the yard. So that means by law, they must be in the home.”

Under the law, pet owners have approximately five business days to retrieve their pet from the pound before the authorities get to decide their fate - adoption or death.

Bouscher conceded to me that in her time she had encountered many “repeat offender” cats and sternly warned “There is a redemption fee every time the cat is impounded,” but would not tell me what the typical fee was.

When I called Animal Control, they refused to disclose the price of picking up a cat from the pound, only saying fees varied drastically. I am still at a loss as to why cat impoundment fees vary “drastically.”

Wondering if others thought that a law against outdoor cats was unduly restrictive I questioned fellow feline adorers.

Nancy Melvin, proud owner of two majestic speckled cats, said she had never heard of the ordinance but thought it was “ludicrous” that outdoor cats were at risk of being impounded.

Neli Cuebas, manager of Jules Pet Store in Albany Park, said there are little problems with domesticated outdoor cats as long as they are neutered, have had their shots and are not de-clawed.

“If you have a backyard, it’s nice for cats to look at birds, climb trees and eat grass. It’s your choice to let them out,” she said.

Birdwatchers, on the other hand, are strong advocates against outdoor cats. Citing ecologists Carol A. Fiore and Karen Brown Sullivan’s study of domestic outdoor cats in the urban setting, bird enthusiasts argue that cats’ instinct to hunt is independent from whether they are well-fed, and that cats butcher millions of birds a year.

Fiore wrote in her study “Cats are not native to the U.S. and any ecologist will tell you that introduced species, no matter how beautiful or interesting, are almost always bad for the ecosystem.” The emphasis on the word “not” is all hers.

Dick Riner, president of the Skokie-based Bird Conservation Network, adamantly believes outdoor cats have a harmful effect on bird life in the Chicago area.

“They eat birds whenever they can,” he said.

Of course Riner also hosts an owl-watching group and is known for taking photographs of owls devouring moles and other ground-ridden mammals. He even goes so far as to admit if the mole advocates ever get organized they would be pissed about the number of moles that are owls’ midnight snacks.

Melvin said cats eating birds is no reason to force them to stay indoors. “I think the cat impact [on the bird population] is like any predatory animal-it culls the weak. That’s a natural process. Of course they have an impact on the bird population. It’s like saying humans have an impact on the vegetable population.”

According to the Fiore study, the average outdoor urban cat will kill approximately four birds a year. Riner warns that cat collars with bells are no deterrent.

“A cat is such a good hunter that you can put five bells on it, it can learn to run and do everything and not even cause those bells to ring. Maybe 20 years ago, I had a big tom-cat, and he could run the entire length of the backyard and not ring a single bell. But when he would want in, he would ring the bells like crazy,” said Riner with a chuckle.

“Cats are deceivingly intelligent,” he added.

Deciding not to risk losing my cat in the system (because he is so damn mean that he would be classified as feral pretty quick) I bought him a collar. I got him high off catnip and overstuffed him with wet food. He wore it for three days without complaint. On the fourth day I was sitting by the fire with him when he literally pulled the collar up over his head with his paw. I lunged to grab it but he bit down and ran away with the collar clenched between his teeth. I have never seen that collar again.

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