It seems one animal is allowed to be louder than all other pets in Vancouver: cats.
Domestic cats are not part of the city's bylaws covering animals and noise. This week, the city updated its noise and animal bylaws, moving the issue from the noise bylaw to the animal control bylaw.
In bylaws a set of definitions are always included; in the case of the animal bylaw "other animal" refers to every animal except a dog or domestic cat. That includes tortoises, geckos, roosters and neon tetras.
In the updated version of the animal bylaw, two sections refer to noise. One refers to dogs (section 4.12, under the heading "Barking or howling") and another refers to "other animals" under the heading "cries of other animals" (section 7.17).
That leaves cats uncovered by the bylaw.
"Cats are not regulated as 'other animals,' parrots are an example of an 'other animal' that would be regulated by this section," a city spokesperson tells V.I.A. in an email.
In fact, the only control on cats in the city's bylaws is how many a person is allowed to keep (the maximum is six, in case you were curious).
Breaking these bylaws could mean a fine between $250 and $10,000, but, usually, the officers will focus on education first, according to the city.
Will meowing cats be regulated anytime soon?
It seems cats are getting a bye for now.
"They are not included in the noise section of the by-law as cats generally don’t make a lot of noise, as reflected in the lack of cat-noise related complaints received by city throughout the years," states the spokesperson.
"As there has been no uptick in cat noise-related complaints, there are no plans to include cats under the noise section of the animal control bylaw at this time."
