Attendees at the appeal hearing for the Last Chance Cat Ranch. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Last Chance Cat Ranch attempts to appeal City of Lethbridge’s Stop Order

Mar 31, 2022 | 7:49 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Council Chambers at Lethbridge City Hall was packed as supporters stood by a local animal rescue.

The City of Lethbridge issued a Stop Order to the Last Chance Cat Ranch (LCCR) on February 17, 2022, citing non-compliance with its permitting.

A section of the Order reads as follows: “We have reason to believe you and/or The Last Chance Cat Ranch (LCCR) is operating an animal rescue, which falls within the land use of Animal Care Major at the above-noted address (the “Premises”) without the requisite Development Permit or rezoning.”

“We also have reason to believe that volunteers are attending at the Premises to engage in services for LCCR and an offensive odour is present at the above-noted address and that current use and odour is having an offensive impact on neighbouring communities.”

These issues came to the forefront when one of LCCR’s neighbours complained to city council last year. The complainant talked about issues including odour, parking, and disputes with those volunteering with LCCR, among other matters.

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LCCR was given one year to either get into zoning compliance in its current location or move elsewhere.

READ MORE: City issues Stop Order to Last Chance Cat Ranch, appeal to be heard

The cat rescue is attempting to appeal the Stop Order and spoke in front of the city’s Subdivision and Development Appeal Board on Thursday, March 31, 2022. The complainant was not in attendance.

The issuing of the Stop Order elicited a powerful response from supporters of the cat rescue with over 80 people going to the meeting. Of those, 16 people spoke, all in opposition to the Stop Order.

Nobody spoke in favour of the Stop Order.

Esther Murillo, a volunteer and board member at LCCR, spoke on behalf of the organization.

The Stop Order has several provisions that LCCR must follow, many of which the attendees at the meeting raised concerns about.

The biggest issue, Murillo says, is one that requires them to limit the number of volunteers on site to no more than two per day.

“As it is with the number of volunteers we have currently, maintaining the house and cleaning it and feeding and medicating, we all work very hard… It’s exhausting work but it’s also rewarding, and to do any less would be jeopardizing the well-being of the cats.”

Murillo adds, given that several of the cats they look after have complex needs, they require much more frequent care.

She estimates that it takes approximately 20-24 man-hours every day to properly take care of their approximately-40 cats and to keep the property in good condition, so having two volunteers each day would not be sufficient.

Many of those who spoke at the hearing claimed that this requirement would amount to animal abuse and neglect, something that would put LCCR in contravention of the Animal Protection Act.

One person who spoke at the meeting volunteers with the Lethbridge and District Humane Society. He said that they typically have 12 volunteers specifically working with cats every day, not including those who volunteer to assist their dogs or who work in administration.

Another provision of the Stop Order is that LCCR would have to limit the number of food deliveries they receive to no more than once every seven days.

Murillo says it is possible for them to survive on one food pickup per week, but the issue is that individuals and companies also bring them donations, both large and small, as they are able to. When those donations arrive are “out of our control.”

A grocery store owner in Coaldale who volunteers with LCCR spoke about the food delivery rule. She used the analogy of mandating that families can only go to the grocery store once per week, which she believes would be “cruel for no reason.”

Another person conducted a survey of all homeowners within a two-block radius of LCCR. 15 people chose to fill out the survey, none of whom had issues with parking, odour, or the number of people going to the property. All of them supported LCCR.

A city official was tasked with inspecting the LCCR property earlier this year. On the topic of odour, she did not notice anything “overly offensive,” although she gave the caveat that garbage pickup was earlier that same day.

LCCR also was concerned about the timing of when they would have to move if the appeal was unsuccessful. Murillo does not think that one year is enough time to fundraise for a new property and to be able to secure a suitable new location. LCCR instead asked for this requirement to be extended to two years.

Overall, Murillo was thrilled to see so many people speaking out in favour of LCCR.

“It was wonderful. We are also aware that the clerk received over 300 emails and letters in support of the rescue, so that’s very heartwarming and makes us feel that we are, in fact, doing the right thing for the city, for the animals more importantly.”

As well, she was happy to see the city’s board members acting fairly during the hearing and asking “excellent questions.”

At the end of the hearing, the board members went into deliberations in a closed meeting. A decision could come at any time, but they stated that it could be up to 15 days.

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