Should cats be banned in New Zealand?

[Johnnie Walker]

I'm a cat lover. My daughter is a cat lover. A few months after she moved to New Zealand, she was in tears because her beloved cat had killed a beautiful little fantail. Her cat now wears a bell, but it has still managed to kill a bird or two.

Should we, as a favour to our feathered friends, stop keeping pet cats in New Zealand? All existing cats would be neutered. Over 20 years or so cats would become extinct in New Zealand and our feathered friends would get some relief from predators that would never have made in to New Zealand without our help.

[Bozeman]

Apparently the bell does no good with many cats since they learn to creep up on their prey without making the bell ring. And, no, I don't think we should ban cats. I do think we should ban cars because so many innocent bugs are killed on their windscreens.

[Johnnie Walker]

The tiny sample so far agrees with you so far Bozeman 4 to 0 in favour of no ban. I must admit, if it came to getting rid of the cat or the car, it would be byee to Felix.

[James 1077]

I don't think that cats should be banned; but I do think that cat owners should be made to keep their cats under control in the same way as dog owners are. Pooing in other peoples' gardens and killing birds are not allowed for dogs so it should be equally so for cats - if that means that cats have to become indoor animals then so be it!

[NikT]

The one animal I can't stand; cats..

Nick..

[broadsword08]

lol i dont think i have seen such a tongue in cheek post for a long time

[Kea]

There are lots of feral cats in NZ so a neutering program would not be sufficient. You would have to poison them too.

James- could you give me some hints on how to stop my cat pooing outside or killing birds?

[IanW99]

...
James- could you give me some hints on how to stop my cat pooing outside or killing birds?

The clue was in his post, you keep the cat indoors. It does of course assume that you don't have any birds indoors for it to kill

Ian

[Kea]

I don't think that is massively practical though. (My cat is so dopey she can't even catch spiders btw.)

[JulieWM]

I am also worried about the birds too. I am next to the bush and I've seen about 6 different stray cats. And they are mating right now. More feral cats!? Eeek.