Gaudreau’s latest breakaway raises concerns around town cat bylaw

Gaudreau the cat gets her name from the Calgary Flames left-winger Johnny Gaudreau.

The black and white feline is light on her feet and isn’t easy to catch, just like Johnny Hockey himself.

“She got out on Friday and we searched all weekend for her, we couldn’t find her,” Drobot added. “The kids were walking the paths around here and couldn’t find her.”

The friendly feline had been trapped and taken into Medicine Hat where she was dropped off at APARC.

General manager Kaylyn Genio said every animal gets a check-up when they’re brought in.

“We scan it for a microchip, look for tattoos, any collars, tags any kind of sign of ownership,” she said. “We do take a picture at that point, then post it on our Facebook site and other sites, just so we can start getting the word out so the owner can come and claim it.”

Drobot brought Gaudreau home. Just a few days later, she got out again and ended up back at the rescue centre.

“She’s got out a few times and we’ve caught her but this is the first time that we’ve had trapping issues,” she said.

It seems that not everyone in the neighbourhood is a cat person.

“Cats can be going onto [other properties] and being destructive on it, or people are worried about their welfare,” Genio said.

“They’ll go outside and they’ll use somebody’s front area, their garden, as a litter box,” said town bylaw officer Barry Steier.

Steier said he loans out traps to residents who don’t want any unexpected four-legged visitors making their yard their new home.

He adds, it isn’t often people in town are asking to borrow the traps.

“Anytime you have a trap, put some sort of food that may draw the cat into it and also have water in the trap for the cat, especially in this heat,” he said. “We want to make sure, number one, the cat is taken care of properly.”

Drobot doesn’t agree with the method, saying Gaudreau is drawn to the trap, clawing at any opportunity to escape on a breakaway that much more.

“Yes, I understand my cat is loose and shouldn’t be,” she said, adding that her frustrations are in paying to get her cat back, after having spent time looking for it.

“And the kids, worrying about the cat,” Drobot added.

She can only hope Gaudreau doesn’t score a hat-trick and end up at APARC a third time.

by Ashley Wiebe

Gaudreau’s latest breakaway raises concerns around town cat bylaw

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