Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : CITIES : Council Hopes Upping Limit to Six Felines Settles Cat Fight
The Santa Ana City Council hopes that it has backed out of the cat fight that raised the hackles of pet lovers in that city.
Reacting to complaints from neighbors of Michael Fedoruk, who didn’t like the estimated 35 to 50 cats in his North Townley Street home, the council gave preliminary approval to an ordinance limiting each household in the city to three cats.
After numerous complaints and a demonstration at City Hall, the council voted 5-2 to raise the limit to six cats per household.
“I think raising this thing to six will take care of 99% of the problems,” said Councilman Wilson Hart. “More than six, I think you’re entering the realm of zookeeper.”
The initial vote produced pro-pet petitions with about 1,100 signatures, and 198 of 255 telephone calls to City Hall in opposition to the three-cat limit. A group called People for Pets circulated flyers and placed a half-page advertisement in the Orange County Register.
Until Monday’s vote, the city had no restrictions on how many cats a resident could have.
But Victoria Reinking of Animal Pro-Life, which works to place stray and abandoned animals, said that Fedoruk’s cats were no justification for the limitation.
“It’s not right to take away the rights of many because of one alleged infraction,” she said.
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