NZ to eradicate pet cats?

[The Straight Story]

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Gareth Morgan has a simple dream: a New Zealand free of pet cats that threaten native birds. But the environmental advocate has triggered a claws-out backlash with his anti-feline campaign.

Morgan called on his countrymen Tuesday to make their current cat their last in order to save the nation's unique bird species. He set up a website, called Cats To Go, depicting a tiny kitten with red devil's horns. The opening line: "That little ball of fluff you own is a natural born killer."

He doesn't recommended people euthanize their current cats — "Not necessarily but that is an option" are the site's exact words — but rather neuter them and not replace them when they die. Morgan, an economist and well-known businessman, also suggests people keep cats indoors and that local governments make registration mandatory.

Morgan's campaign is not sitting well in a country that boasts one of the highest cat ownership rates in the world.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/nz-eradicate-pet-cats-purr-ish-thought

[regnaD kciN]

1. What. An. Ass.

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.

[The Straight Story]

3. When they outlaw cats....only outlaws will have cats

[LisaLynne]

10. They will pry my cat out of my ...

cold dead hands. Or off of my pants.

[OneGrassRoot]

12. LOL!

[Le Taz Hot]

2. Sure!

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.

[xoom]

4. Poor native birds...

Humans bring cats, cats kill native bird. Horrible.

[snooper2]

28. You have to look at the positive side,

Maybe the kiwi will learn/adapt to fly again?

[Arcanetrance]

5. Is euthanasia an option for him

[Nye Bevan]

6. BUT surely we need to eradicate the birds to save the worms..... nt

[LisaLynne]

7. Yes, we have ...

been down this path before. It goes nowhere.

[justiceischeap]

8. And eradicate the worms to save the...dirt. I think I did it wrong. nt

[bullwinkle428]

9. If this asshole thought he had a political future in NZ, he just "euthanized" that opportunity.

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

[sadbear]

11. Dude must really hate cats.

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

[Javaman]

14. In other news...

Rats and Mice have a population explosion in New Zealand.

[Lizzie Poppet]

15. Them's fightin' words!

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."

[union_maid]

19. Absolutely

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.

[jberryhill]

33. A bell will not suffice

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

[Remmah2]

16. WTF?

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.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

17. i love my cat but outdoor cats destroy native wildlife

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.

[panzerfaust]

21. Unlike people, I suppose?

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.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

23. no one's claiming that human beings are not ruining the earth

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.

[Jack Rabbit]

18. Keep your hands off my kitties, Morgan

[center][/center]

[joeybee12]

20. Scumbag extraordinaire...

I think we need to neuter asses like him.

[WinkyDink]

22. Thread title completely misleading. ONE GUY, whose idea "is not sitting well...."

[OwnedByCats]

24. Euthanasia an option??

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.

[brooklynite]

25. The interesting point is that...

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

[jberryhill]

26. The native birds of New Zealand cannot fly

For obvious reasons.

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

[Arugula Latte]

30. Urging people to keep their cats indoors and neutering/spaying cats are very good things.

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

[jberryhill]

31. yes, well, this person is in a position to require neither

[thelordofhell]

27. They hunt feral cats in Australia during the rain season

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/03/04/australias-new-feral-mega-cats/

[Xithras]

29. Like guns, cats should be licensed and taxed.

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.

[kestrel91316]

37. Owning cats isn't the problem. Letting them outside to kill wildlife is the problem.

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

[Xithras]

38. I equate it to owning a boa constrictor or a pet mongoose

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).

[kestrel91316]

40. Makes more sense to tax people for each child they create.

[Xithras]

42. I have no problem with that either.

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.

[OwnedByCats]

41. I'm the same

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

[jberryhill]

32. They will eradicate the kiwis long before that

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.

[BlueJazz]

34. If it were up to me, I'd ban pets from being outside without a restrictive means unless...

...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...

[Science Geek]

35. It's been tried elsewhere before with disastrous results...

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.

[kestrel91316]

36. This will fail. But the irresponsible people who let their pet cats roam free to wreak havoc among

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.

[liberal_at_heart]

39. so I guess no one care about the birds. Maybe they're not cute enough.

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.