You've heard of Planned Parenthood, now there's Planned Pethood — a registered charity being set up in Halifax to pay for the spaying and neutering of pets.

Brittany Hilton, co-president of Planned Pethood, said last week the charity is inspired by the Halifax Regional Municipality's ongoing debate over a cat bylaw to deal with the city's problem of cats running wild.

"People are seeing the problem of the feral cat, and some people consider them nuisances and because the problem is so extreme, the city has in turn come out with an even more extreme solution," said Hilton, a fourth-year psychology student at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.

"We at Planned Pethood, we don't condone the city bylaw. We don't want to see animals trapped. We don't think it's humane. And with the shelters being over-packed, it's doubtful they'll be adopted."

Hilton said the only humane way to solve the city's feral cat problem is to make sure more cats are spayed and neutered.

Planned Pethood is still looking for a veterinarian to perform the operations, she said.

The charity will pay for the procedures with money raised through fundraising events and from corporate sponsors.

Hilton, along with SMU graduates Jason Ellsworth and Julia Fitzgerald, came up with the idea to set up a Planned Pethood in Halifax. There are branches already operating in other areas across Canada and the U.S.

Hilton is president of Partnership for Animal Welfare (PAWS), an active society at Saint Mary’s. Ellsworth and Fitzgerald are past presidents.

The Nova Scotia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates there are about 300,000 feral cats roaming parks, waterfronts, backyards, and back streets of the Halifax Regional Municipality.

Feral cats are defined as cats that have never had contact with humans and are the offspring of abandoned domestic cats.

Last October, Halifax regional council passed a bylaw to license cats. It also gave animal control officers the power to trap and euthanize cats in some cases. But last month, councillors narrowly voted down the new animal-control bylaw, estimated to cost about $3.3 million, including the price of a new shelter.