A kennel license is now required for anyone who wants to have more than three cats in Dudley, Massachusetts. They have voted to change their bylaws to impose a license fee on cat owners of multiple cats.

If a cat owner of more than three cats refuses to pay for the license which costs $50, a fine of $100 per day will be issued to the person. The vote came about after residents complained about the damage done to a neighbor's yard due to a few cats let out by a cat owner.

The solution they came up with may solve the problem for the neighbor's yard for now but it does not guarantee that the cats will not come back. Focusing on fining families that do not have a license instead of working on the real problem of outdoor roaming cats is very myopic.

Instead of enforcing cat owners to have a license, the city should have directed their residents to vote to keep cats indoors or within the cat owner's property.

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Image: eva101 via flickr