North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Domestic cats: cute pets or lethal pests?
NEIGHBOURLY DISCUSSION
Councils around the country are looking to band together to rein in roaming moggies. Dunedin City Council has suggested its colleagues help it push the Government for national rules that could include compulsory desexing, microchipping, keeping cats indoors at night and cat rangers. Seven other councils around the country have given the idea, and its environmental focus, their backing ahead of a July vote at the Local Government New Zealand annual meeting.
Many of our native birds are in danger of extinction, and cats are part of the problem. Forest and Bird estimates the country’s 1.4 million cats kill 1.12 million birds per year. So are these rules part of solution?
SHOULD CATS BE CONTROLLED MORE?
Ros from Bayview: People just love to pick on cats! The reality is that they easily catch birds because the birds no longer have anywhere to hide. The birds have no where to find food and nest. That is the bigger reason why they are all dying. How many pukeko, ducks, hawks, pigeons or moreporks have you seen squashed on the motorways? Let’s get real, the big killers are humans. Putting a bell on kitty is not going to save the pukeko!
Manda from Beach Haven: Following some of the Australian legislation and having curfews would be useful for native wildlife. It seems to be working well in Australia, plus it’s reducing the risk of cats getting hurt or killed (80% of accidents involving cats are at night according to agriculture.vic.au) ... Money from registration could be used to help fund bird/native wildlife rescue centres ...
Cat (or any animal) owners should be held to the same standards as dog owners, including not causing a nuisance for neighbours by waking them at night shrieking/fighting, pooping in neighbours’ gardens, and killing the local lizards and birds. If a dog behaved like this this the owners would be penalised.
Vicki from Mairangi Bay: Cats are usually too lazy to go hunting if they are near humans as they know where the food is. Feral cats are the problem if that. I blame all the cutting down of trees for more subdivisions.
Emma from Torbay: So are we to follow our cats around to make sure they don’t bother people? I mean c’mon, it’s easy with dogs but cats will be cats, they roam and we can’t be responsible for what they do when they go on an adventure, just another thing for people to moan about.
Angela from Hillcrest: Yes, agree with everything above. We love our cats, but need to protect our birds.
Steve Pyatt from Rothesay Bay: Control would save native birds etc? Is it right that dog owners are forced to do this already and keep their pets on their own property whereas cats can wander freely into others’ property? When this happens, the ‘‘legal’’ dog barks and gets reported and owner fined for the ‘‘illegal’’ cat’s actions!
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