Omaui cats not irreplaceable after all?

It would seem that the sun has set on the Omaui ‘‘sunset clause’’ that would have phased out the domestically adored but predatorially problematic furballs from the local environment.

The proposal was put into the Southland Regional Pest Management Plan that cat ownership in the area have a clause which banned replacement of any existing cat and would, after a period of natural attrition, constitute a total ban.

Much feline hissing resulted. The idea, which was clearly pregnant with wider significance, attracted 100 written submissions.

As an aside, that is a healthy scale of response. If people were to be more in the habit of noticing and reacting to proposals at local government level that stand to affect their lives in the future as well as the present, this would be no bad thing.

In this case, the recommendation of Environment Southland staff is that the Omaui ‘‘site-led’’ programme in support of native birdlife could be successful without a cat ban.

Provided, that is, that cats are microchipped and desexed and kept in accordance with Invercargill City Council bylaws. And further work is recommended on exploring containment and curfew options.

It’s a good call. There was ardent enthusiasm around Omaui way for the ban, but the feedback made it emphatically clear that ‘‘ardent’’ and ‘‘widespread’’ are not the same thing. A substantial majority didn’t like the idea at all.

The report from ES operations director Jonathan Streat could be read as concluding that, hey, it turns out a cat ban is just not necessary. And that being the case, it’s flat-out a bad idea.

An alternative interpretation, unless we’re reading too much into this, would be that the conclusion is less about the ban being unnecessary than about it being unacceptable to the majority, and its removal being deemed justifiable for democratic reasons.

We should also bear in mind that a cat ban is not yet an undone deal, so to speak. What we have is a staff recommendation which, alongside all submissions, will go to the ES hearing panel, which will put its own recommendation to full council.

It does seem unlikely that the ban will eventuate, in this case.

But it’s a given that the advocates of native bird protection will continue their search for a more welcoming community.

And there may well be one. Somewhere else.

News of the potential Omaui ban became national, even international, news. Much to the distress of locals who found the attention, and some of the depictions of their community, as unwelcome.

But it also stands testament – as if it were ever in doubt – that there’s something formidable about cat owners collectively.

He mightn’t thank us for revisiting this, but let’s not forget that former Invercargill City Council chief executive Richard King found that out to his considerable discomfort.

Himself an Otatara-dwelling bird lover, he sparked nationwide controversy when he made the tactical mistake of telling a reporter that the box traps the council was supplying for catching feral and stray cats were issued on a ‘‘no questions asked’’ basis.

The result – bet you by golly wow – was that questions were asked all right. The result was a substantial nationwide petition and a publicly televised apology.

In that respect, Environment Southland staffers may feel they’ve gotten off lightly.

News of the potential Omaui ban became national, even international, news.