Bid to tackle city's cat colonies

BOP Community Cat Project manager Maureen Wallace needs the community's help to locate stray cats. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

Rotorua's dining precinct Eat Streat is home to one of a number of stray cat colonies that a new initiative is trying to rid from the city.

Stray cat populations around Rotorua and the wider Bay of Plenty are the targets of a new project to ensure the wellbeing of owned cats and native wildlife in the area, as well as addressing long-running community frustrations.

The Bay of Plenty Community Cat Project is a collaboration between local animal authorities that aims to dramatically decrease unowned and stray cat populations around the region within three to five years.

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council has committed $110,000 over two years to the project.

The project is based on work undertaken in the past three years by the Tauranga-based Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre Wildlife Trust.

Trust director and co-founder of the Cat Project, Dr Liza Schneider, said the project was the vision of the Trust and the Rotorua SPCA, working with the regional council, Department of Conservation, Rotorua Lakes Council and the Kawerau, Whakatane and Opotiki SPCAs.

The aim was to work "in a humane manner to decrease the unowned populations of cats and educate people about the problem, ultimately leading to the improvement of welfare of the cat population as a whole".

The three main aims of the project are to prevent unnecessary predation on wildlife, improve overall cat welfare, and provide a community service.

The Project team will humanely trap stray cats, give them a health check, treat them for any conditions, de-sex, micro-chip and then rehome them. Cats that are sick or not able to be rehomed will be humanely euthanised.

Cat Project manager Maureen Wallace said a public meeting would be held on December 8 in Rotorua.

"We are calling for the registration of colonies at this public meeting. We haven't got any estimates of how many colonies just yet."

Mrs Wallace said she was aware of colonies in White St, View Rd and one growing in the Eat Streat area.

"We will be asking some of the businesses in Eat Streat to monitor traps, and asking staff not to feed them."

"Some of the restaurateurs there estimate the colony is between 20 and 40 cats. We've had a couple of people telling us that while they are eating the cats are getting quite bold and coming up to tables," she said.

Eat Streat spokesman Tamati Coffey said he had noticed stray cats around the street.

"They are looking for scraps of food, that sort of thing."

Mr Coffey said he thought the Project was a good idea.

"We all take food and hygiene very seriously down here and we are the ones who have to keep cleaning up after them. We do everything we can to control any pests. If they [the cats] don't belong to anyone they fall into that category too. Anything that can be done to make sure they are safe and that it's all humane, it's a good result."