Dumped cats a problem
Marg Schaw is fed up with the area around the Ashley Clinton farm she lives on being used as a dumping ground for unwanted kittens and adolescent cats.
Since the start of the year, she says she has found 15 kittens or half-grown cats on the isolated, rural property on Balfour Rd.
“The other day when I came home there were four [strays] along the road. We’d already caught a few and re-homed a couple of them but it’s like, when are these people going to stop dumping them?” she asked.
Marg said she had managed to find new homes for five of the strays among her friends. Sometimes there was a mother cat, but Marg said many were kittens that were too small to survive.
“The other week I actually found a wee little one that looked like it had only been weaned for about three weeks. It ended up dying. They pick up pneumonia real quick and then worms and stuff. It’s such a cruel death.”
Those that did manage to make it, she took to the CHB SPCA.
“But I always feel bad taking them to the SPCA because they’ve already got what seems to be hundreds [of unwanted animals] in there. We did speak with someone at the SPCA before Christmas when we were taking kittens in but they were so overwhelmed.”
Based on how tame the kittens and half-grown cats were, she was sure they had been deliberately dumped by people living nearby.
“They’re definitely dumped. They’re all really, really tame. As soon as you catch them you just know it.”
“People aren’t coming from far away like Waipukurau — they’re obviously coming from Takapau and Ashley Clinton, right here in our backyard.”
Apart from the welfare aspect, she said stray cats caused problems for farmers and others with hay barns.
She said the animals took shelter in the barns and then peed on bales used to feed cattle and sheep, spreading feline mycoplasma.
The disease resulted in aborted calves and lambs, she said.
CHB SPCA manager Renee Hickey said dumped kittens and cats continued to be a major problem with cat breeding season ”not seeming to stop these days”.
She said there were a number of trouble spots where people dumped cats and other animals
“Anywhere just out of town seems to be the place, usually near a house.” She encouraged people who found dumped animals, or owners of unwanted pets, to get in touch with the SPCA to tackle the problem.
“People need to come and see us. We can then get a background on where they come from and possibly help if there are issues with de-sexing,” she said.
Under the Animal Welfare Act, any owner who deserts an animal without making provisions to meet its physical, health, and behavioural needs could face up to a year in prison and/or a $50,000 fine.
■ Contact the CHB SPCA on 06 858 8933 or email chbspca@xtra.co.nz