Pets
Okay, here you are out in Rural Wonderland, so you’ll need a couple of dogs, a few cats and maybe some chickens and goats! Well... maybe not.
Those acres of weed-infested property down the street belong to someone, and that someone probably lives there, in a house behind the trees. Keep this in mind when bringing home anything that barks, yowls, bleats, crows, craps and attracts predators and vermin.
Have your pet spayed or neutered. Just like the rest of the world, Pender Harbour has far too many unwanted animals.
Here in Pender Harbour, we’re lucky to have both a modern, full-service veterinary clinic and a pet foods/supply store. Most communities our size don’t. We encourage you to support both Dr. Rick and Shelley so they can continue to offer important services to our pet owners.
Predators & Parasites
Small dogs and cats look like a convenient snack to coyotes, eagles and the occasional cougar. Fights with weasels, raccoons and mink rarely end well for the domestic pet.
Ticks are a problem every year. Examine your pet’s coat regularly and treat it with an effective drug to prevent fleas and kill ticks. Ask your vet to recommend something and, while you’re at it, have your pet’s inoculations brought up to date.
Dogs
We don’t have —and don’t want— a dog-control bylaw. As long as people are responsible dog-owners, we won’t be forced into one, and the tax increase that goes along with it.
Please do not be an irresponsible dog owner: do not let your dog roam, free-range, to become a nuisance, which it will do if released to amuse itself in our wide-open spaces. Dogs can legally be shot if they threaten someone’s livestock and pets on their property, and if they chase deer, which they will.
You know the drill... have your dog in full control at all times, have it spayed or neutered, make sure it doesn’t disturb your neighbours and always scoop that poop.
Cats
Domestic cats are hunters by instinct, not personality. You cannot train them not to stalk and pounce on prey, be it a catnip mouse or a living, breathing songbird. Putting a bell on a collar on a cat merely teaches the cat to move without sounding the bell, and a collar can become snagged on a branch, endangering the cat to other predators. If a dead mouse or bird on your doorstep is going to cause you grief, it’s best not to have a cat, or to keep the cat indoors at all times.
Do not expect a cat to keep your property free of rats, mice and other vermin. There are simply too many rodents in our mild-climate, waterfront area for cats to eradicate. Forcing your cat to live outside won’t make it a better hunter, nor will withholding food; that strategy only results in a parasite-ridden, unhealthy and unhappy cat with a shortened lifespan.
The healthiest cats are indoor-only cats. They are not subject to fleas, ticks, diseases and injuries from other animals, they are not targets for other predators, they will not leave “surprises” in your garden or those of your neighbours, and they are not a danger to birds and rodents outdoors.
Exotic Pets
Keeping an exotic pet that requires a constantly warm environment can be risky (for the animal) in Pender Harbour because of power outages. Although infrequent, these outages can last for days, so a generator is the only solution.
If your exotic pet requires a special food or other supplies, talk to Shelley at Pender Harbour Pet Foods so she can arrange to have it stocked for you.
If you plan to get a cockatoo or other hysterically vocal, loud bird, by all means keep it indoors where only you can appreciate its piercing shrieks.
Hobby Farm Animals
There is not a large-animal veterinarian in Pender Harbour, so remember to consider transportation in taking on a horse or other large farm animal. As well, feed such as oats and hay is not available in Pender Harbour.
Smaller hobby-farm stock, i.e. chickens and pigs, and their feed attract all kinds of opportunistic creatures like rats, raccoons, coyotes and bears. As well, your new neighbours may not appreciate the early-morning sounds of a crowing rooster and the ripe odour of fresh manure.
Finally, goats are difficult to contain —just ask the folks on Garden Bay Road.
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