NZ to eradicate pet cats?

You know what's a bigger threat to wildlife than pet cats, Gareth? Humans. So, when are you going to start a campaign to rid NZ of humans? Euthanasia will not be required, "but that is an option"...especially in your case.

cold dead hands. Or off of my pants.

He can try and take Loki first. I would suggest a HAZMAT outfit and a dart gun, but, you go for it there, big guy.

Humans bring cats, cats kill native bird. Horrible.

Maybe the kiwi will learn/adapt to fly again?

been down this path before. It goes nowhere.

"Well-known businessman" - does this mean that he's New Zealand's version of Donald Trump? The requisite stupidity is sure there!

"Yeah, we're going to skip over trying to keep cats indoors and go straight to ridding the entire country of them."

Rats and Mice have a population explosion in New Zealand.

That said, I do keep my cat indoors, and generally advocate it for most cat owners. But I can just imagine how overrun with mice some of my rural friends would be without their "barn cats."

Pet cats should probably all be kept indoors for their own good. A bell would likely suffice if it was just the birds that were at issue. But barn cats have their own important function.

New Zealand's native birds cannot fly, and cannot outrun a cat.

Over my life our house has had 40 cats (not all at once), they were all indoor cats. Safer for the cat. In my next life I want to come back as my own cat except I'd like to keep my balls.

unless people keep cat indoors and euthanize feral cats, the natural wildlife of that country will be decimated.

I don't think he is insane or hates cats or any of those things. I think he is trying to solve a problem.

Many studies have shown that having a dog or a cat as a pet extends peoples lives and makes them feel better. Dogs, cats and humans have many thousands of years of a mutually beneficial relationship ... so one is tempted to say "sorry about the birds."

Certain it is that the bird extinction problem on those islands arose with the arrival of the Maori about a thousand years ago, and greatly accelerated after the arrival of Europeans about 350 years ago.

Perhaps the best solution, from the bird's perspective, is that the invasive hairless ape species - which has overrun these and many other lands - simply packs up with its commensals and leaves them in peace.

the only reason cats are is because they were moved into a non-native environment by humans, however euthanizing feral humans is not a choice whereas euthanizing feral cats is.

I think we need to neuter asses like him.

Wow, can't tell to how you how sickening that feels since I had to euthanize my cat a month ago because he was dying of stomach cancer. Never in a million years would I euthanize a cat that wasn't already dying. I feel for the birds, I do. I keep my cats in the house always, but it isn't just cats that are the problem there.

...New Zealand had no natural predators before human settlement, which in the grand scheme of things wasn't too long ago.

For obvious reasons.

I think many of the people commenting on this thread fail to appreciate that fact of New Zealand ecology.

Killing and "eradicating" them is entirely different, and very bad.

Owning a cat while claiming to love the environment is like slapping a Greenpeace sticker on your SUV. It's nice to know you love the Earth, but you're failing to recognize that you're part of the problem.

Cats are incredibly destructive to native wildlife. TNR colonies should be contained indoors or euthanized, pet cats should be registered and taxed, and allowing a cat to wander outside should subject its owner to painful fines.

I own 3 cats myself and am most definitely not part of any "problem". My cats never set foot outdoors.

As a non-native species, they have no business roaming outdoors unchecked. They can be extremely destructive to the native fauna and simply cause more damage to our already shaky ecosystem. A cat, boa, or mongoose kept inside does no damage, but the mere act of having it increases the risk to the environment because you cannot guarantee that it wont escape. By keeping them, you are placing your personal enjoyment above the good of the environment.

I don't have a real problem with owning pets, but I do believe that pet ownership should be taxed, and that those taxes should be spent on programs to rebuild native animal populations that are being damaged by those pets. There is an ecological cost associated with pet ownership, and taxation of that ownership is a fair way to offset the damage that those pets do. If you own a cat, you should pay a tax that will help to rebuild the bird populations that are damaged by those cats (maybe not yours specifically, but cats in general).

In fact, I long ago started suggesting that as a solution for overpopulation. Every nation should establish an "ideal population" limit, and apply a tax penalty to parents who have children while the population is over that limit. The penalty should also be automatically scaled so that the further the nation is over the limit, the higher the tax penalty is.

This would do two things. 1) It would place direct financial pressure on prospective parents to discourage the creation of excess children. 2) It would create a strong social pressure against having large families, because YOUR large family would also force OTHER prospective parents to pay more taxes.

I never let my cats outside so I'm not part of the problem either. I'm extremely supportive of cats being indoors unless you can give them a secured run outside. I have unfortunately seen other people's outdoor cats get hit by cars and one traumatizing event where I witnessed one that was killed by some scumbag who hated cats - I absolutely refuse to allow mine outside for those reasons alone. I used to live in the UK where a lot of people let their cats out - I saw more "missing cat" posters than I care to remember. I was the weird American who kept mine indoors, but oh well.

The outside birds in my yard are safe from my cats, I can't say the same for the mice that sneak in the house though lol

It is tremendously unlikely that anything will be done about cats, including requiring them to be kept indoors, before the last of New Zealands flightless birds is long gone.

No need to worry.

The kiwis are toast.

...in a designated park....or other "common sense" use. (Like going into a pet store or vet, grooming, farm etc...

Here in Florida, a lot of pets are killed by being outside..

And yes..I love cats and dogs and other creatures...

Many people may not know that the Catholic Church in Europe was on a mission to kill all cats because they were consorts of Satan. They did quite the job of it, reducing the cat population to nearly zero in most metropolitan areas. Then the rodent population exploded and the fleas they carried killed a large percentage of the population with Bubonic Plague.

I see history repeats, associating cats with Satan once again. The results may repeat as well.

the wildlife need a serious slapping upside the head. CATS ARE AN IMPORTED AND INVASIVE SPECIES IN NEW ZEALAND.

Be responsible, people. Keep them in and keep them safe. The wildlife gets first dibs on the out-of-doors.

euthanizing the cats is ridiculous and stupid but what is wrong with encouraging people to neuter their cats and keep them indoors? The birds deserve to exist too.