Feral cats the new possums
Cat dumping is such a problem in North Taranaki, the felines are now more of a threat to native birds than possums, farmers say.
Okoki farmer Deanne Ball said she has found six litters of kittens in her hayshed over the last six months and believed they were being dumped there on purpose.
Ball said the dumping was just adding to an already large population of feral cats in the area and action needed to be taken.
‘‘They are the new possum and they’re everywhere,’’ she said. ‘‘They’re bigger, faster and stronger. Something needs to be done.’’
Ball said possums were viewed as pests but because cats were ‘‘close to home’’ they weren’t looked at that way.
‘‘I hired a professional possum trapper and he was catching about two cats a week,’’ she said.
Ball’s neighbour Sarah Hart said she too had a cat problem on her property.
‘‘I’ve had about four separate litters come out of the hills,’’ she said. ’’We use ‘kiwi-safe traps’ but we’re catching kittens. We’ve caught about six.’’
Worried about the rapidly growing population of wild felines and preservation of native birds, Ball recently contacted the Taranaki Regional Council (TRC), Department of Conservation (DOC) and SPCA but said the organisations weren’t doing anything about the problem. ’’DOC’s got their hands tied and council isn’t spending money where they should,’’ she said.
Though DOC’s website states uncontrolled, wild or abandoned cats are a threat to native birds, spokeswoman Alison Beath said there was no immediate plan to deal with them.
She said it was a national problem they ‘‘need to get on to’’ and were ‘‘definitely looking into it’’.
The TRC also has no plans to deal to the population - beyond providing information and advice on the control of wild cats - because they were only classified as ‘surveillance’ pest animals.
When Ball rang the SPCA she was told to get the licence plate of the person she believed was dumping cats so the police could prosecute them appropriately.
Wellington recently became the first city in the country to require ID for cats as a way to prevent them from killing native wildlife, but Ball said the adoption of this law would be a waste.