LOCAL COUNCILS CONSIDERING CAT CONTROLS TO SAVE NATIVE WILDLIFE

New Zealand authorities are increasingly looking to introduce cat controls to protect our native species.

Cats are the most common companion animal in New Zealand, but are also highly efficient predators and known to kill all kinds of native wildlife, including birds, lizards and insects.

Last January, a solitary cat was found to have killed all but one banded dotterel chick at a breeding colony in Lower Hutt.

Cats are also responsible for the total nesting failure of a monitored colony in Kaikōura last year. The bird is considered nationally vulnerable.

In a submission to Kaikōura District Council’s draft annual plan last year, Sabrina Luecht called for regulations to reduce the animals’ negative impacts on wildlife.

The council stopped short of adopting a bylaw, but agreed cat owners needed to take more responsibility.

It planned to work with dotterel researcher Ailsa Howard, the Department of Conservation and regional council Environment Canterbury to find a “pragmatic solution”.

Wellington City Council was the first to implement cat controls, updating its animal bylaw in 2016 to include mandatory microchipping. 

The New Plymouth City Council adopted an animal bylaw last year limiting the number of cats allowed on each urban property to three, unless the resident had express approval from the council.

Households in Whanganui will also be limited to three cats under a bylaw coming into force in July 2021, which will also require cats to be desexed and microchipped.

In Hamilton, the only council-run cat desexing fund in the country was set up in 2019 in a bid to control the city’s growing population of stray cats. The fund pays for cats to be de-sexed and re-homed.

Cat controls had also been debated in Selwyn, where consultation showed the public were in favour of regulation.

The council decided instead to advocate for national legislation regarding the control of cats, similar to the rules that already exist for dogs.

In 2019, Southland introduced a plan allowing Stewart Island residents to own a cat as long as it is de-sexed and microchipped.

Environment Southland said it planned to offer free microchipping and de-sexing to help residents comply.

Near the other end of the country, on Great Barrier Island/Aotea, which is home to about 100 people, cats are permitted but must be microchipped.

Auckland Council biosecurity principal adviser Imogen Bassett said the council actively promoted responsible pet ownership, including offering free de-sexing and microchipping for residents who already had cats.

“Aotea is a unique island, home to many species that are very vulnerable to cat predation, such as taiko (black petrel) and pāteke (brown teal).

“If we let our cats out to roam on the island, they can do great damage to these threatened species populations.’’

However not all Kiwis are on board with tighter cat controls.

Feline Rights New Zealand was established in response to “ongoing anti-cat propaganda in the mainstream media being spread by eco-extremist organisations’’, namely The Morgan Foundation.

Northland Cats in Balance was also established about 10 years ago to protect what it claims is a much-maligned species.

Spokesman Klaus Kurz said cats were not a serious threat to wildlife, except in isolated or fragmented ecosystems, such as on islands.

Kurz said cats were the only efficient link in the New Zealand food chain to keep ferocious predators like rats and stoats under control.

“Rats and other vermin love to eat bird eggs and baby birds and are the main culprits.

“Ironically, the main predator of the rat is the cat. Remove the cats and the birdlife will suffer immeasurably.”

Yolanda van Heezik, professor of zoology at Otago University, said there was irrefutable evidence of the impact of domestic cats on wildlife.

Year-long studies in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin had shown that while rodents were caught by cats, birds made up the greater percentage of their menu.

“Regardless of how well-fed they are, cats kill wildlife,” van Heezik said.

Even if studies confirmed cat impacts on prey populations, most cat owners’ attitudes would not change, she said, meaning more needs to be done to change the “social norms” around cat ownership.

“People in Australia generally acknowledge negative impacts of pet cats and accept regulatory measures, suggesting that NZ’s population is capable of responsible cat ownership.

“Non-cat owners have remained a silent majority: they need to speak up and let national and local politicians know how they feel about cat management.”

Forest and Bird said owners could minimise their cats’ impact on native wildlife by de-sexing them, keeping them in at night, and not replacing them when they die.