Website launches for National Cat Management Group

The National Cat Management Group’s website is an independent platform to provide information on the group, link to the report and recommendations, provide advice on cat management topics, and link to group member’s websites for information.

“We have not had a place where this information is available, and historically the report was generously hosted by group member Companion Animals New Zealand. The new website will help people find the group, our recommendations for cat management, and links to other organisations involved in this work.”

The third version of the report provides evidence-based recommendations for humanely and effectively managing the problems we have with cats in New Zealand. Cats are beloved companion animals in many New Zealand homes, however, there are also problems with too many cats that experience poor welfare, prey on vulnerable native wildlife, spread disease to native wildlife and pastoral animals, and cause disturbances in communities.

It is important that we find ways to resolve problems related to cats with cat welfare at the heart of the matter. This will take different strategies for different cats. For example, ensuring companion cats are desexed is critically to reducing the number of even though 96% of cat owners report their cats are desexed, SPCA still sees over 13,000 cats and kittens into our care each year, mostly because they are stray or are from unplanned breeding of companion cats. This tells us we still have a lot of work to do to keep the number up.

SPCA is a founding member of the New Zealand National Cat Management Group which began in in 2014 to address the growing concerns about the impacts of cats.

The group members include Companion Animals New Zealand (CANZ), Companion Animal Veterinarians (CAV) Branch of the New Zealand Veterinary Association, New Zealand Veterinary Association (NZVA), Predator Free New Zealand Trust (PF NZ Trust), Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), and Veterinarians for Animal Welfare Aotearoa (VAWA). The Department of Conservation (DOC) provides technical advice, and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is an observer member.

“Working alongside diverse groups has helped ensure that protecting cat welfare is central to efforts to protect our native biodiversity, reduce disease risks to farmed animals, and reduce nuisance in communities.”

The event also brings renewed attention to the Domestic Cat Microchipping Bill which was announced last December. The cross-party member’s Bill was launched by Green Party Celia Wade-Brown and National Party Barbara Kuriger and would require companion cats to be microchipped and registered on a national database. The Bill is a positive step forward for cat welfare and native wildlife. SPCA supports the Bill and further advocates that desexing be included. Currently the Bill is sitting in the biscuit tin and we would prefer it amasses enough support from Parliament to bypass the ballot to first reading. We ask members of the public to contact their local MP and let them know responsible cat ownership matters to them and ask them to support the Bill.

National cat legislation is needed to address the problems of overpopulation of cats whilst protecting cat welfare. A proportion of the cats we consider stray are lost companion cats. Microchipping helps us reunite lost companion cats with their owners.

“We have had cases of lost cats living as strays for years, only to be reunited because a person finally trapped the cat, scanned for a microchip, and found one that was registered to the owner. These cases remind us that microchips protect companion cats and that lost companion cats living as strays deserve a chance to make it back home, no matter how long they have been away.”

You can read more about SPCA’s advocacy for Domestic Cat Microchipping Bill here.