‘Snip ‘n chip’ advised for Gore’s cats in draft policy
Encouraging Gore cat owners to have their felines “snipped ‘n chipped” is one of the recommendations in a draft cat management policy set to be tabled at a meeting next week.
But the policy won’t have any teeth
– the council will be able to make recommendations to owners, but they won’t be enforceable.
In March 2022, the Gore District Council established a Cat Management Working Party, made up of councillors, representatives from Hokonui Rūnanga and community appointees, which recommended the council develop and adopt a cat management policy.
The working party, chaired by councillor Glenys Dickson, estimated there were about 500 to 700 stray cats, and about 4000 feral cats in the Gore district.
The draft policy will be considered at a Planning and Regulatory Committee meeting tomorrow, but it stops short of capping the number of cats a household can own, or keeping them indoors at night.
It says it will encourage owners to desex and microchip their cats – an approach it calls the “snip ‘n chip”.
The policy is designed to be informative and educational rather than prescriptive. The council can recommend that the actions described in the policy be followed, but will not enforce the stipulations.
A report accompanying the draft policy says the council’s resource constraints will inhibit the delivery of some desires, including enforcing the number of cats, ensuring whether cats stay inside at night, and the council-led rehousing of cats.
The report is also unclear as to what approach can be taken with the growing numbers of stray cats that need rehoming because it implies significant financial resource that, at present, it can’t provide.
It also recommends the council writes to Environment Southland inquiring whether feral cat pest control can be undertaken within the Gore district as part of the Southern Regional Pest Management Plan.