Horizons Regional Council's pest management plan could look at Whanganui's cat population. Photo / 123rf
Whanganui residents have an opportunity to ask for support to deal with the city’s cat population as agencies struggle to keep up.
Horizons Regional Council reviews its regional pest management plan every 10 years, with the chance for public input closing on April 30.
Biodiversity, biosecurity and partnerships manager Craig Davey said this was an opportunity for residents to stop the cat problem before it gets too big, or too expensive to fix.
“If we hear from the community… that actually cats are a problem ... then we would be able to consider how we could best manage them,” Davey said.
“There’ll be people always with pet cats but it’s how they manage them that we need to mature towards, because the population is expanding.”
Stray and feral cat populations stem from domestic cats that are not desexed.
A female cat can have up to three litters in one year and 120 kittens in her lifetime, according to the SPCA. Many do not survive to adulthood.
Last year, the Whanganui SPCA had 476 cats go through their centre and many more managed in the community.
“The issue appears to be constant,” SPCA Whanganui centre manager Francie Flis said.
She said they received requests for cat traps – used to catch and relocate – almost daily, and regular reports of potential pet abandonments.
The SPCA itself has a trap-neuter-return programme that returns neutered strays back to where they were originally found if they are not able to be rehomed.
The New Zealand SPCA is majority donation-funded, with less than 10% Government funded.
Flis said they do not have the resources to help all of the cats in Whanganui.
Fran Anderton, a Castlecliff resident of more than 20 years, said issues with cats near her property had worsened in recent years.
After her own cat died, unwanted cats began visiting her property regularly, leaving faeces across her garden.
A severe flea infestation broke out inside her home – affecting her health and business as a home-based glass artist.
“They were so bad I had to borer-bomb the whole garage and my whole studio.
“I just don’t want to get it to that stage again.”
She found multiple kitten litters in varying conditions.
Over the past five years, she has contacted the SPCA, Whanganui District Council, Horizons Regional Council and one of the several nearby community-run re-homing groups.
She tried to help several of the cats but many were unapproachable.
“You can’t get near them.”
She used cat traps and went through rehoming one kitten she found but more had returned since.
“They’re definitely getting worse.”
Cats are divided into three categories for management purposes – domestic (companion), stray, and feral.
“Feral cats are savage,” Davey said.
“They’re equipped with fangs and claws that wreak havoc on whatever’s used to extract them from traps.”
Feral and stray cats can carry a host of diseases and parasites. Handling them, or their faeces, can pose serious health threats to humans and animals.
“What’s actually quite concerning is ... because of the ability to draw blood and get into and under your skin, they ... carry toxoplasmosis, which is a really vicious infection.”
Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease which can cause blindness, brain damage, miscarriages, birth defects and even death in humans.
Feral cats have caused significant species loss across New Zealand and were added to the DoC Predator Free 2050 target species list late last year.
The cats’ location determines which organisation can help.
Options for after trapping a cat are limited.
If the SPCA cannot take it in, they offer re-homing advice and a limited supply of desexing and micro-chipping services.
Horizons offer humane euthanisation depending on the situation.
Davey said people’s emotions around cats as popular household pets could make addressing the issue difficult.
“What’s the happy medium between allowing people to have pets as humans like and having some sort of resilience in our diversity population?”
He said it starts with people desexing, microchipping, and not taking in a cat they cannot keep long-term.
“If we could get to that stage where people would actually treat animals better, we’d have less pests.”
If cats were added to the Horizons Regional Pest Management Plan they could create a strategy with funding, Davey said.
“What would the solution look like and just how much resources would that require?
“We have an opportunity to help answer that.”
He said it could involve working with city and district councils to change bylaws to enforce responsible ownership.
Whanganui District Council adopted a policy in 2021 to address unwanted and roaming dogs – a policy for cats could be similar.
Residents can submit their feedback and read more about the review process at the Horizons Regional Council website.
People are legally responsible for the welfare of cats they trap and the SPCA said they do not recommend people kill problem cats on their own.
People could be held criminally or civilly responsible depending on the method used and if the cat is owned – facing up to three to five years in prison.
Erin Smith is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.