Cat poo causing a stink
Sudhir Kumar is sick of stepping into cat faeces.
The Hamilton man’s morning routine includes shovelling up the excretions and dumping them in a separate compost heap.
But by the time he gets home from work, more faeces are scattered across the lawn.
His place is overrun with neighbourhood cats.
He’s considering trapping them and taking them to the SPCA.
‘‘The cat poo stinks like hell,’’ he said.
‘‘The faeces contains a bacteria called toxoplasma and it spreads toxoplasmosis.
‘‘It’s a health issue for our kids to have so many faeces lying around our garden.
‘‘When the kids are playing outside, they unintentionally get it on their feet and drag it inside. Then we have to pay for carpet cleaner.’’
Kumar, his wife and their four children have been living at the Nawton home for a year and a half.
He’s purchased a commercial animal repellent, but it has limited effect.
‘‘People suggested using other things as well – motion sensors, things like that – but they’re all expensive.’’
Kumar said the crux of the problem lay with the number of cats living in each property.
If there were a cap on the number of cats people could own, Kumar believes the issue would be significantly reduced.
‘‘If you’ve got an excessive number of cats, it’s going to be hard to control them.
‘‘Cats attract cats. So if one has found a place they can dispose of waste, then other cats come and join them.
Kumar wants owners to stop taking a slap-dash approach to their cats and instead take responsibility for them.
‘‘I appreciate the fact that there are lots of cat lovers here, and I think, from their point of view, the cats are like their kids.
‘‘But all I want them to do is to look at others’ points of view who don’t have animals.
‘‘Mostly people get up in arms about how it’s their cat and they can’t control it, but I think if you’ve got a cat, you need to take responsibilty.’’
Wellington City Council passed a bylaw in 2016 in which all domestic cats over the age of 12 weeks have to be microchipped by February 2018.
Council spokeswoman Victoria Barton-Chapple said if a cat is microchipped, it can be more readily identified and returned to its owner.
Those who flout the law face prosecution.
Hamilton City Council’s animal education and control manager Susan Stanford said Hamilton had no plans to follow suit.
‘‘Last year, our councillors did support a proposal to central government to create a law around cat ownership.
‘‘We believe creating one rule through law will help create consistency across the country, so no matter where you live, the rules will be the same,’’ she said.
Hamilton does have an Animal Nuisance Bylaw and staff will follow up any nuisance complaints. Also, the animal control team hires out cat traps, which can be used to catch feral cats. If a trapped cat is microchipped, or its owner can be identified, the cat will be returned home. Unidentified cats will be placed on an online database and held at Animal Education and Control for seven days.
‘‘If you’re a cat owner, we recommend to try to keep your cat indoors at night (around 7pm to 7am) to minimise them going over to other people’s properties,’’ Stanford said.
‘‘Desexing and microchipping pet cats are also recommended, as it can stop them from roaming, creating extra unwanted kittens and can be easily identified by Animal Education and Control if found.’’
‘‘Cats attract cats. So if one has found a place they can dispose of waste, then other cats come and join them.’’
Nawton resident Sudhir Kumar