SPCA should ‘dig up’ cat shot dead
SPCA Hamilton Central says a Waikato couple who trapped a cat and shot it dead didn’t do anything wrong.
But a local animal rescue group says the SPCA should have confirmed the cat was killed humanely and made sure it wasn’t someone’s pet.
‘‘I truly believe the SPCA should be paying them a visit, digging up the cat and actually speaking to them about it, don’t just take their word for it,’’ said Donna Young, founder of New Lives Animal Rescue in Cambridge.
‘‘How do you know that it’s been killed humanely? Those people haven’t taken it to a vet (to see if it was microchipped).’’
The couple, who Stuff have chosen not to name, trapped the cat last week after they found it on their 15-acre rural property about 10km outside of Cambridge.
‘‘We saw it wandering around there and we’ve got a lot of native birds and we didn’t want it killing them,’’ they told Stuff.
The couple frequently find and kill what they believe are feral cats on their property but this one was ‘‘quite a pretty little cat’’ and tame enough that it could be stroked while in the cage. They believed it did not have a microchip and knew all of her neighbours’ pets and it didn’t belong to them.
Wondering if a home could be found for the cat, they contacted New Lives and were told to bring the cat in before 4pm that day.
Young said when the couple hadn’t shown up by that time, she called them back and was told they planned to contact the SPCA instead.
Young rang the SPCA that night to say, ‘‘I’m really worried about this cat, that it’s still in the trap and I want to know what they’ve done with it.’’
The SPCA called that evening but by then it was too late for the cat.
‘‘My husband answered and he said it was quite wild and he shot it. (The SPCA) said honestly it was the best thing to do because there’s no point just letting it go and nobody could tame it.’’
The SPCA wouldn’t confirm the details of that conversation but a spokesperson said care and treatment of animals was governed by the Animal Welfare Act 1999.
‘‘Our understanding is that the animal concerned was feral and was humanely euthanised prior to any contact with SPCA,’’ they said.
‘‘Our position is that the preferred form of euthanisation is a lethal injection administered by a vet. However, we do not believe there has been a breach of the Animal Welfare Act in the way this animal was treated.’’