Editorial: Curbs on cats a goer

People are very attached to their pets. Photo/Thinkstock

I'm with Gareth Morgan when it comes to cats.

I should qualify that. As a cat owner myself, I don't agree with some of the economist's stronger comments about the felines but I do share the view that, left to their own devices, these pets are born killers.

Mr Morgan learned last year just how attached people are to their pets when he launched a website called Cats to Go. The website called the animals sadists and serial killers and featured a photoshopped image of a kitten with red eyes and devil's horns.

His solution, which perhaps reflects an economist's logical view of the world, is that they should be phased out by stopping people from buying them and not replacing them when they die.

The idea outraged pet owners but the fact is much of our native wildlife now only survives on off-shore islands that are free of introduced pests. Cats are not entirely to blame. Introduced pests such as stoats and rats also feast on our bird life but the threat they pose to wildlife is recognised through pest control programmes.

Mr Morgan says the problem is caused by people not keeping control of their cats and letting the pets roam where they kill native wildlife.

He advocates councils making micro-chipping mandatory for cats to determine ownership, so un-owned cats could be "zipped" and any pets caught wandering could be returned for a fee. There should also be a 24-hour curfew on cats, with them only allowed out on leashes.

A less restrictive, and perhaps more practical, form of regulation for cat ownership was raised in Tauranga this week.

Representatives from ARRC (Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre) Wildlife Trust - which is unlikely to share Mr Morgan's more hardline views - has asked the Tauranga City Council to consider putting a limit on the number of cats people can own. It also want owners to register and microchip their cats.

The organisation says the city has a problem with cat colonies and forcing owners to register and microchip their cats would establish a sense of ownership, helping keep numbers down.

Mayor Stuart Crosby says he is reluctant to introduce rules for registering and micro-chipping cats but I think the idea has merit and should be explored.

While it is a given that pet owners will develop strong attachments to their cats, this needs to be balanced against the need to protect our native fauna.