KITCHENER OPENING LETTER

September 27, 1999

Dear Councillor:

RE: KITCHENER ANIMAL BY-LAW

I represent several national and local bird organizations that represent thousands of bird owners, breeders and aviculturists across Canada. I am also a member of a local club, the Golden Triangle Parrot Club.

We are very concerned about proposed amendments to the current by-law which will adversely affect our members and many of your constituents. There are thousands of people in the City of Kitchener and surrounding areas that own pet and companion birds, some for as long as 40 or 50 years, and established, highly respected breeders who have been breeding parrots and other birds for an equally long time.

The effect of the proposed by-law would be to make it illegal to keep these birds in your City. The effect on pet owners and families would be devastating. Can you imagine if your local councillor was to tell you that you could no longer keep your pet dog or cat?

The spillover effect on breeders and pet stores would be equally destructive. Many of the breeders would stop breeding birds and many of the pet stores, especially the small ones, would lose a large segment of their business.

The debilitating effect on breeding rare birds for conservation and preservation would eventually result in those species disappearing, not only from our homes and aviaries, but also from the wild.

I am sure that the proposed changes are well intentioned but, like so many such efforts, miss their mark and strike down something else that was totally unintended. Enclosed is a copy of my Deputation that I will be giving to the standing Committee at tonight’s meeting and I hope that you find it interesting and perhaps a little illuminating.

We would appreciate your support in asking that the Committee defer any decision on the amendments until we have had an opportunity to consult with the City Solicitor’s Department in a further study and consultation on the legal ramifications of this by-law. I, of course, volunteer my time to this project and, having worked very closely on the recent City of Toronto Animal Control
By-law, I believe that I have some amount of experience in the issues that are involved in this debate.

I thank you for your anticipated cooperation and please do not hesitate to call or write me directly if you like any further information or merely to discuss the issues.

Yours very truly,
Chris Holoboff