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It is said cats have nine lives, and all nine cats were successfully re-homed at a recent adoption day in Oamaru now settling into their new lives.
About 60 people, including many children, attended the PussN Boots Kitty Rescue adoption day at By the Big Blue Cross Veterinary Centre on Saturday.
PussN Boots Kitty Rescue supervisor Sheryl Roberts said it was a “great success” for the registered charity, which helps to foster and care for rescue cats needing new homes.
“We adopted all nine of the cats which were there for the day and sold most of our other goodies for fundraising as well,” she said.
The Oamaru fundraiser event included a barbecue, cupcakes, children’s goody bags and a lucky dip.
The PussN Boots charity, based in Mid Canterbury, operates from Oamaru to Ashburton, encompassing Methven, Waimate and Geraldine.
Monetary donations go towards veterinary bills, the charity said.
Adoption fees helped to recuperate veterinary costs before the cats were re-homed.
In Oamaru alone there were eight fosterers who looked after the kittens, hosting viewings in their own homes, until permanent homes could be found.
The population of unwanted cats and kittens was unfortunately growing and Ms Roberts said the organisation at times had up to 300 cats throughout the region needing a home.
She said they had managed to re-home a feral black cat called Diamond, from the Diamond Harbour area, who had been a stray her whole life “so she’s taken a while to calm down but she loves attention and she was with me since February so she is now more relaxed”.
Ms Roberts said Diamond was the sort of cat that may have been culled or hunted in controversial competitions such as the North Canterbury Hunting Competition, in which 1000 feral cats were killed over three years with $5 for each cat donated to charity.
Cat welfare charity New Zealand Cat Foundation recently wrote to the Department of Conservation and Ministry for Primary Industries, seeking a ban on cash-prize killing competitions and tougher controls on who can kill feral cats.
It has been estimated that feral cats are responsible for killing up to 100 million birds in Aotearoa each year.
PussN Boots Kitty Rescue often host adoption days alternating at By the Big Blue Cross and Vetlife veterinary centres and Animates pet store in Timaru.
Ms Roberts said they were “very happy with the support”, and some of the children went the extra mile to help out.
“Once the kitties were all adopted, all the kids there went out to the roadside, waving the PussN Boots signs and sold lots more cupcakes and goody bags,” she said.