The City of Westmount has launched a public-awareness campaign to educate residents on the potential dangers of feeding local wildlife, and has authorized patrols to issue tickets to repeat offenders.

Described as an "escalating problem," the seriousness of the situation was brought to the attention of City officials this spring, when the melting snow in Westmount Park revealed an excessive amount of peanut shells and seed casings — evidence of people feeding the squirrels and birds over a prolonged period.

This alarmed those who realize the potential dangers.

According to the City, studies have shown that excessive feeding of local wildlife can actually cause them more harm than good. Animals may stop foraging for natural food as a result, and local wildlife populations could increase dramatically due to the over-abundance of food — then suffer when this food source is cut off.  It has also been pointed out that excessive feeding also attracts vermin, which can create a health risk for both park visitors and those living in the immediate neighbourhood.

But not all park users are happy with the no-feeding policy. One resident said she was shocked when stopped by a patrolling officer and informed that it is against the law to feed the animals.

"I grew up in Westmount and lived here practically all of my adult life," Ingrid Mask wrote to the Examiner this week. "To be approached and even ticketed for such nonsense is incomprehensible to me, as all my life I have seen people feeding the pigeons or the squirrels, and it was never an issue."

But it's all for the good of the animals, say City officials, who have pointed out that while the bylaw has been in place for several years, until now many officers have opted to exercise "reasonable toleration" when observing infractions.

"There’s no question that the presence of local wildlife in our parks makes visiting them all that much more enjoyable," says a statement issued by City Hall this week. "However, if park users create an imbalance in their food source, serious problems can result in a very short period of time.  So the City’s request is really quite straightforward — next time you visit a park, please refrain from feeding the wildlife.  You’ll be doing both the animals and yourself a favour."