Windsor City Council - 2003 Biophilia Award

In the 10 years that Jazzpurr Society has been working with Windsor City Council, the councillors chose the "biophilial" path with each issue brought before them.

Foster Homes:
It began early in 1993, when City Council granted us an exemption to the Animal Control By-Law allowing us to operate supervised and registered foster homes with more than the (then) legal limit of two cats per household. This allowed us to care for hundreds of cats and kittens who otherwise would not have had a life.

Beginning of Building a No-Kill Community:
In 1995, within the context of the renewal of the animal control contract, we advocated that the City set up a task force to examine why the problem of homeless cats was increasingly getting worse (number of cats being euthanized at the W/E Humane Society had increased from 4,000 to 7,000 in the past three years.)

No-Kill Shelter:
In 1996, Windsor City Council gave its approval to the opening of Jazzpurr House, Windsor's first and only no-kill shelter.

"NO" to "Catch-and-Kill":
In February of 1998, then rookie councillor Brian Masse rose to question what was being done about the stray cats annoying one of his constituents. This resulted in a huge amount of publicity in that the complainant publicly threatened to shoot the cats. In April of that year, a public meeting on the issue was chaired by Councillor Masse. Jazzpurr presented a 28-page position paper outlining the situation with stray and feral cats in Windsor and elsewhere, programs that work, and Jazzpurr's "No-Kill" recommendations.

Cat Demographics Survey:
Concurrent with these events, Jazzpurr conducted a survey of cat demographics within the City of Windsor. The information gained from this survey was valuable in organizing a strategy to help solve the problem. We still get requests for this information. With the help of local veterinarians, Jazzpurr then developed the policies and protocols for a Trap-Neuter-Return program for Windsor and Essex County.

First Trap-Neuter-Return Program:
In February of 1999, Jazzpurr again went before City Council and received unanimous blessing for its opening of a free spay/neuter clinic for stray and feral cats ( with Clearwater Animal Hospital).

Administration Recommendations and First No-Kill Committee:
In October of 1999, the City Clerk's office released a discussion paper on the "Regulation of Cats and Dogs in the City of Windsor" and invited comments from all concerned organizations and individuals. After this consultation period, a meeting was held at Windsor City Council which resulted in the formation of a committee, chaired by the then City Clerk, Tom Lynd, one of whose mandates was to examine the long term goal of a "No-Kill" solution to control the feral cat. This committee (of which Jazzpurr was an active member) met several times.

Banning of Animal Acts in Circuses:
Although not a Jazzpurr project (but supported by Jazzpurr), Windsor City Council again chose the "biophilial" path by not subjecting the children of Windsor to witnessing animal abuse and the dangers of animals "fighting back".

By-Law Change and Second No-Kill Committee:
The resultant of the first No-Kill Committee's work was realized in October of 2001 when Windsor City Council again rejected "catch-and-kill" (under the guise of licencing), expanded the legal limit of cats per household from two to four (allowing twice as many cats to be placed into adoption), and formed the second "No-Kill Committee". The resultant of that committee was the approval of a city-funded Trap-Neuter-Return project in a small but contentious area on the west side of Windsor.

International Feral Cat Day:
Mayor Michael Hurst declared October 16th to be International Feral Cat Day for the City of Windsor.