Founder and chair Anne Batley Burton said the charity believed companion, stray and displaced cats were being killed alongside feral animals.<\/p>\n
\u201cCats now effectively have a bounty on their heads,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen people steal companion cats from their own homes and properties to enter them into these competitions. This isn\u2019t pest control.\u201d<\/p>\n
The foundation said missing-cat numbers increased around hunting events and challenged DoC identification guidance, arguing characteristics used to identify feral cats could also apply to companion animals.<\/p>\n
It wants feral cat control restricted to licensed or certified pest-control professionals and greater support for humane alternatives including Trap-Neuter-Return programmes.<\/p>\n
The North Canterbury Hunting Competition always attracts a big crowd. Photo \/ File <\/p>\n
DoC acting Predator Free manager Andrea Goodman acknowledged there was \u201cno single characteristic\u201d that could reliably distinguish a feral cat from a companion cat in every circumstance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile there is a small risk of misidentification whenever free-roaming cats are encountered, DoC takes a precautionary approach and requires operational decisions to be informed by multiple sources of information.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goodman said staff and contractors were expected to consider factors including a cat\u2019s behaviour, location, condition and context, rather than relying on a single indicator.<\/p>\n
She said DoC did not want companion cats harmed and its predator-control guidance included measures to minimise the risk, including appropriate trap selection and placement and considering the proximity of homes and settlements.<\/p>\n
DoC regularly reviewed that guidance, Goodman said, while emerging technology, including traps with microchip readers could further reduce the risk to companion cats.<\/p>\n
MPI Director of Compliance and Response, Glen Burrell said feral cat management on conservation land is done by DoC.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ministry for Primary Industries\u2019 responsibility in cat management focuses on their welfare, as covered under the Animal Welfare Act 1999,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Act requires any killing of animals to be carried out humanely. If we became aware of any breaches of animal welfare rules, we would take appropriate action.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegional councils throughout New Zealand manage feral cats generally through their pest-control plans.\u201d<\/p>\n
The latest push comes as another Canterbury hunting competition featuring a feral cat category launches this weekend.<\/p>\n
The Great Mid Canterbury Critter Competition runs from Friday to Sunday and is open to children aged 16 and under, with adult supervision required.<\/p>\n
Competitors can hunt across Canterbury with landowner permission, with feral cats, possums, rabbits, hares, rats, mustelids and hedgehogs among eligible animals. <\/p>\n
The rules offer prizes for the biggest feral cat in three age groups.<\/p>\n
Event spokeswoman Deborah Gilkison said pest control was already part of everyday life for rural families.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s already happening on farms and properties across Canterbury,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFeral cats are also a genuine biodiversity issue. DoC identifies them as predators of native birds, bats, lizards, w\u0113t\u0101 and other wildlife.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis competition is about doing something rural families already do, but using it as an opportunity to get kids outdoors and talking about pests, biodiversity and looking after our environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gilkison said organisers had dedicated a section of the rules to feral cats.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur message around cats couldn\u2019t be clearer: if you\u2019re not certain it\u2019s feral, leave it alone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The event will raise funds for Mayfield Community Pool heating project. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s rural people coming together, doing something they already enjoy, removing pests and raising money for their community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rafaella Melo is a multimedia journalist with more than 10 years\u2019 experience in Brazil. She joined the NZ Herald\u2019s Christchurch team in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Founder and chair Anne Batley Burton said the charity believed companion, stray and displaced cats were being killed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":602815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[20299,74,9092,1060,8126,297025,8688,19699,1977,4962,10039,8231,107904,14395,15124,266,32655,3375,130,111,43,139,529,69,1523,27950,19554,131,1529,2443,3608,1530],"class_list":["post-602814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-20299","tag-after","tag-against","tag-ban","tag-canterbury","tag-cashprize","tag-cat","tag-cats","tag-charity","tag-competitions","tag-controversial","tag-event","tag-felines","tag-feral","tag-fight","tag-government","tag-hunting","tag-killed","tag-more","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-north","tag-nz","tag-over","tag-seeks","tag-taken","tag-than","tag-three","tag-welfare","tag-were","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}