Kill stray cats, save kiwi, Barry urges SPCA

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry is urging the SPCA to start putting down stray cats, rather than neutering and releasing them, in an effort to save kiwi.

Releasing neutered cats that will continue to kill birds was unacceptable, she said.

‘‘I think that is one of the most foolish and counterproductive techniques I’ve ever heard.

‘‘Cats that have been spayed and released are a big problem. If the SPCA capture wild cats, they should put them down in a humane way, or they should offer them to people.’’

Prime Minister John Key said putting down cats was not Government policy, and Barry was giving her personal views.

‘‘Some people are going to have lots of cats and some are going to have few, but we won’t be passing any laws to limit the number of cats they own.’’

The Key family cat Moonbeam came from a pet shop in Mt Eden, he said. ‘‘I’ll be certainly mentioning it to Moonbeam to stay away from the SPCA if they were to follow her instructions.’’

SPCA chief executive Ric Odom said he was well aware of Barry’s stance, which echoes that of conservationist Gareth Morgan.

‘‘It’s a very complex issue and it’s one that’s charged with emotion,’’ Odom said. His organisation was working with the Department of Conservation to determine how the welfare of native birds could be alongside that of stray cats and dogs.

The existing SPCA policy of trap-neuter-return would be investigated.

‘‘Let’s look at whether it’s effective – some places around the world it is effective and other places not so much.

‘‘We’re running a couple of trials, so we’ll see how effective it’s going to be.’’

Cat shelter owner Susan McNair said organisations such as hers were caught between a rock and a hard place, as some people vehemently protested against euthanising strays.

Government funding to provide low-cost microchipping and desexing would helps cats – as well as native birds – more than any ban on the SPCA’s trap-neuter-return policy, she said.

Barry’s comments came during the launch at Zealandia in Welling- ton on Thursday of a $11.2 million scheme pledged in last month’s Budget to aid kiwi conservation.

The extra funds, spread over four years, aimed to halt the 2 per cent decline in kiwi numbers and turn that into a 2 per cent rise.

Increasing to $6.5m, the money would pay for new rangers, extra pest control, and the establishment of new fenced kiwi creches to nurse chicks until they were old enough to be released in the wild.

Without extra funding, DOC had warned kiwi could be extinct from the mainland within two generations.