Chip and snip for kitties out of the litter

Palmerston North is poised to become the first New Zealand city to make desexing cats mandatory.

Its Animals and Bees Bylaw, if adopted by the full council, is likely to take effect in July, making it compulsory for all kittens born after that to be chipped and snipped by the time they are 6 months old.

People who already have cats would not be affected by the change. SPCA area manager Danny Auger said the move was ‘‘an amazing step forward’’ in cat control.

Controlling breeding was the key way to manage the problem, while microchipping not only helped reunite owners with lost pets, it identified who was responsible for a cat that had been causing problems in its neighbourhood.

City councillors were worried about a legal opinion that the new requirements could be challenged if they were not a reasonable response to the extent of the cat nuisance problem.

But councillor and veterinarian Lorna Johnson said there was no doubt desexing cats reduced the incidence of fighting, roaming, urine spraying, and meant female cats were not out howling and prowling when they were in season.

And she said it was not unreasonable to expect cat owners, who might spend $1000 a year on food and care for their pet, to spend $35 on a microchip.

Johnson said deciding at what age cats should be de-sexed and microchipped was a grey area, with conflicting advice being given but there was general agreement it should be done by 6 months at the outside.

She proposed the change to the draft bylaw so the rules would apply only to kittens born after the bylaw took effect.

Cr Brent Barrett said if the rules were imposed on current pets, that would have prompted ‘‘a great rush to the vet’’.

Committee chairman Duncan Mccann said the bylaw was a useful step toward the goal of a predator-free New Zealand.

Head of environmental protection services Graeme Gillespie said staff would have challenges enforcing the new bylaw, as there was no money in the budget.

He said people were likely to continue to trap nuisance cats, the council did not have resources to check whether they were microchipped or to house them and it could not even issue infringements.

Councillors have already thrown out proposals to spend $37,000 on an animal education programme, and $82,000 for promoting and enforcing the new rules.

A suggestion to set up a cat management group to work with other agencies in the community was also rejected.