Cat microchips on cards as bylaw drafted

Cat owners in Tasman District may have to microchip their moggies if a draft bylaw gets the go-ahead.

Tasman District councillors yesterday agreed to instruct staff to develop a bylaw to help manage the domestic source of feral cats and address ‘‘health and nuisance effects’’.

Some residents are expected to get their claws out over the matter.

‘‘We know that a lot of people are very passionate about their cats, they’re emotionally attached to them,’’ said deputy mayor Stuart Bryant. ‘‘I think there needs to be a long lead-in time around the consultation.’’

Regulatory committee chairwoman Councillor Dana Wensley said a draft bylaw would affect many ratepayers for whom domestic cats were crucial members of the family, ‘‘and we seem to be imposing a very broad obligation on them without any clear direction’’.

Wensley was referring to the wording in a section of the draft bylaw that says cats shall be kept ‘‘in a manner that is not, or is not unlikely to become, a nuisance, dangerous, offensive, or injurious to health’’. She questioned what this meant.

Council biosecurity and biodiversity team leader Paul Sheldon said the nuisance ‘‘really relates to cat trespass, cat defecation, issues with identification of the owner of a domestic cat’’.

‘‘Those are the types of nuisance that one could – under the Local Government Act – make a bylaw.’’

Modelled on a Wellington City Council bylaw, the draft rules suggest that cat owners be required to microchip their moggies once the felines reach 12 weeks of age, and then register the microchip on the New Zealand Companion Animal Register. A grace period of 18months is suggested.

The move comes after some submitters to the Tasman-Nelson Regional Pest Management Plan called for the Tasman District and Nelson City councils to do more to manage cats.

A staff report listed ‘‘negative impacts’’ for pet cats, including a biodiversity threat, as they could prey on small animals. Cats also presented ‘‘community, amenity and health threats’’. Council staff will now finalise the draft bylaw and prepare a Statement of Proposal in anticipation of public notification. Consultation is tipped to begin early next year.