Cooped-up cats face eviction
The owners of dozens of moggies in the Coromandel are living in a car so they can keep a roof over the animals’ heads – but now the SPCA is investigating and their landlord wants them out. By Sharnae Hope.
CATS peer through grated windows down a service lane behind the main street of a muggy, overcast Thames.
In a nondescript white building in the coastal town, locals are concerned about what they call a ‘‘cat prison’’; a barren room where moggies meow and climb barred windows to try and escape.
The owners are living rough in their car so they can afford to house the cats. They deny any mistreatment.
However, they do not have resource consent to run a catbreeding operation at the site, and have been given five days to either comply or vacate the premises.
Thames-Coromandel District Council and the SPCA are investigating.
A local woman, who didn’t want to be named, said she was told about the cats on Service Lane Seven just before Christmas. As an animal lover and former vet she was ‘‘horrified’’.
She said when she went to see the building for herself she saw cats with ‘‘coughs and sniffles’’, and some appeared to be malnourished.
Concerned for their welfare, she complained to ThamesCoromandel District Council, the SPCA, police, local MP Scott Simpson, mayor Sandra Goudie and the Ministry for Primary Industries.
‘‘I’m in tears, I’m just distraught for the cats,’’ the woman said. ‘‘Nothing is being done. These cats have been there [since] before Christmas, and apparently one or two of them escaped and got into the sandpit of the kindy next door.’’
The building was ripe with the smell of cat urine when the Sunday Star-Times visited this week.
Cat owners Eve and Graeme Belmont said they had been breeding them for around four years.
‘‘We fell into it by accident. We really love cats and have always got along with animals more than people,’’ Graeme said.
They said they moved from Dargaville in December, choosing the building in Thames due to its cheap rent, and planned to renovate the property.
‘‘We are living in our car at the moment, because we’re tight on money,’’ Graeme said.
The couple said they had been selling cats on Trade Me but were taking a break while the cats settled into their new home.
They denied neglecting or mistreating any of the cats.
Initially the couple didn’t allow the Star-Times inside the building to see the animals, because ‘‘there’s flooding issues’’. However, when a reporter and photographer returned a week later they were permitted to enter. Around 20 cats were seen – alarmed by the presence of strangers, yet friendly.
Mother cats and their litters were in large crates against the walls, and male cats were kept separately in another room.
There was a range of breeds including Russian Blues, Burmese and Siamese, and Birman. There were also a few moggies, which Eve said the couple had ‘‘fallen in love with, but there’s no money in them’’.
All cats appeared to be in a healthy condition with access to food, water and litter trays.
Thames-Coromandel District Council communications manager Laurna White said a complaint was received on December 23, and the council’s bylaw team visited the site that same week.
‘‘The couple who lease the building showed our staff member around and explained the cats were their pets,’’ White said.
An SPCA spokesperson confirmed it had been alerted to the situation and was investigating.
Eve said the SPCA requested the cats have ventilation, so the couple created a make-shift gate so the garage door could stay up.
There are no specific rules or requirements for breeding establishments, but breeders do have to comply with the Animal Welfare Act 1999 and the Animal Welfare (Companion Cats) Code of Welfare 2007.
White said if the couple planned to run a cat-breeding business from the site, they would need resource consent.
‘‘They indicated this was a long-term plan and were aware a consent would be needed.’’
It would cost an initial deposit of $2100 for the council to process a non-complying resource consent, and enforcement action could be brought against any person who was found to have breached the Resource Management Act. White said an animal boarding or breeding facility would be a non-complying activity under the council’s Proposed District Plan.
When asked if they had resource consent, Graeme said the couple didn’t realise it was required until it was raised by the council. ‘‘In Dargaville I suppose the council is a little more relaxed because we didn’t have one there.’’
Since the council and SPCA have come knocking, the landlord has given them five days to get resource consent or leave, Graeme said.
‘‘We don’t know what to do now.’’
‘We fell into it by accident. We really love cats and have always got along with animals more than people.’ GRAEME BELMONT
Throughout last month, SSTs climbed to reach 0.78C above normal off the east coast of the South Island, and 0.39C above normal around the north of the country.
“A stormier start to December has meant coastal waters have had a lot more mixing and sea temperatures actually dropped slightly for a while - but are on the rise again for many parts of the country,” said Niwa meteorologist Nava Fedaeff, adding that there might be another slight dip in the week ahead.
In September this year, it proved the first time in more than 30 months that seas were cooler than normal.
But by October, SSTs were back to near average; a month later, they were returning toward “above average”.
She couldn’t discount the chance of another marine heatwave – which would make it the third in three years.