Call for councils to adopt cat curfews
New Zealand should follow Australia’s lead and adopt cat curfews, a group campaigning for tougher cat control laws says.
Across Australia councils are introducing strict laws cracking down on roaming cats in an attempt to stop them killing native animals.
Control measures include compulsory micro-chipping, desexing, household cat limits and curfews.
Victoria’s Yarra Range Council has gone as far as introducing a 24 hour cat curfew, meaning residents must keep their cats on their property at all times.
The controls are being introduced based on research showing that cats roam significant distances at night, making them a threat to native wildlife.
Morgan Foundation general manager Jessi Morgan said the New Zealand Government needed to make it easier for local authorities to introduce similar cat control measures.
Jessi Morgan said cats were even more problematic to New Zealand’s wildlife than Australia.
Public opinion is divided on the issue with a recent poll on Stuff, that attracted more than 7000 votes, showing that 51 per cent of people believed cats should have a curfew.
Auckland residents on social media site neighbourly.co.nz shared their views on cat curfews.
Shaun Lee from Glen Innes said cat curfews would help with conservation of bird sanctuaries.
‘‘They definitely hunt better at night when birds are disadvantaged,’’ Lee said.
In September 2016 the Morgan Foundation was part of a strategy group launched a draft report calling for the Government to introduce more stringent cat management laws.
Morgan said she wanted cats to be managed the same way as dogs.
The report, called the National Cat Management Strategy, recommends the Government introduce laws that allow councils to easily implement cat control measures.
One would be to give local authorities the power to impose cat curfews close to and in ecologically sensitive areas. At present there is no national law specifically managing cat control meaning it is up to regional councils to introduce its own bylaws.