Dr Beattie, the association’s representative on the national cat management strategy group, has vowed to show her commitment to fixing the situation by fencing her Dunedin property to contain the next cat she owns.
The strategy document is an outcome of three years of collaboration by the NZ Veterinary Association, SPCA, Local Government New Zealand, New Zealand Companion Animal Council and the Morgan Foundation.
The group wants domestic cats in ecologically-sensitive areas, such as near Orokonui Ecosanctuary or on Otago Peninsula, to be contained to their owner’s property, to make it easier to manage cats — domestic, feral and stray — in the areas.
Cats were "natural predators" preying on vulnerable New Zealand native species, such as birds, skinks and geckos, she said.
A fence to contain a cat needed to be higher than for a dog but measures such as rollers on top of it would stop a cat from scaling it. She said defining an ecologically-sensitive area was difficult, but it could be argued that description applied to all of New Zealand. The Government needed to provide a clear framework on responsible cat ownership and for managing the population of stray and feral cats. That framework should allow local government to enforce cat management bylaws including:
• Restricting the movement of cats in ecologically-sensitive areas with measures such as keeping them indoors or in other contained areas.
• Limiting the numbers of cats in ecologically-sensitive areas.
• Limiting the number of cats per household.
• Desexing cats unless they belong to a responsible and registered breeder.
• Identification of cats, preferably by microchipping and registration to a national database.
Dr Beattie said legislation, controversial when introduced, requires dogs to be contained, registered, microchipped and had clear expectations on how dogs were managed. There were plenty of good reasons for legislation to control cats but the "cultural change" required was "massive".
A Department of Internal Affairs spokeswoman said the Government would consider the submission on cat management.
Mayor Dave Cull said the Dunedin City Council put forward the strategy group’s remit to Local Government New Zealand, asking the Government to give councils statutory powers to control cats and asked for the strategy to be implemented. If passed, this would enable the council to better manage the cat problem in Dunedin.
