You Feed It, It’s Yours 2

A bill pending in the Colorado state legislature wants to bell license the cats and make their owners liable for keeping them licensed and leashed:

8 (4) “OWNER” MEANS ANY PERSON WHO KEEPS, HAS PERMANENT
9 CUSTODY OF, OWNS, MAINTAINS, HARBORS, PROVIDES CARE OR
10 SUSTENANCE FOR, OR HAS CONTROL OR CHARGE OF OR RESPONSIBILITY
11 FOR A CAT OR WHO PERMITS A CAT TO HABITUALLY BE OR REMAIN ON OR
12 BE LODGED OR FED WITHIN SUCH PERSON’S PROPERTY OR PREMISES.
13 REFUSAL TO PERMIT AN ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER TO IMPOUND A CAT
14 SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE EVIDENCE OF OWNERSHIP UNLESS OWNERSHIP OF
15 THE CAT BY ANOTHER PERSON IS ESTABLISHED.

I assume that this is a jobs bill to create large number of positions for new cat catchers animal control officers.

All seriousness aside, I recognize that stray cats, dogs, iguanas, marmots, and the occasional downsized gecko are problems, but arbitrarily assigning them to owners seems to be a screwy solution.

If they want to make it illegal to feed strays, then make feeding strays illegal and stop mincing words.

Must be the water.

H/T Karen for the link.