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cats, anyone else love them this much...


David R

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http://garethsworld.com/catstogo/

I like laughing at the funny pics on the net, but really they are annoying, spraying, fighting, crapping, verminous killing machines. We got rid of ours a couple of years ago (as it took a serious dislike to my wife) and certainly will never be getting another as long as we live here surrounded by bush. We have two dogs that are chipped and registered, and fenced on the property (and out of the bush) and kept inside at night, perhaps its time cat owners had to jump thru the same hoops as dog owners...

hope this doesn't get me a warning as a post intending to create a reaction, I'm just trying to discuss a current issue... :digH:

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I am not a fan of Campbell and his emotionalised stories so I purposely avoided his story and won't be watching it on that site either.

None of my cats have ever killed native birds, not that they wouldn't given the chance, but in the suburbs it seems unlikely that a native bird would be down low enough. When we lived on Waiheke they were around because of the nearby bush but again, the only native that was caught was a fledgling tui that fell out of the nest and my cat was perched looking at it like it was an alien from outer space. So in truth, my cat has only ever helped the natives by killing the imported birds. :digH:

I voted no, I will be replacing my cat when he meets his demise. And yes, he is neutered, microchipped, defleaed and vaccinated and I consider myself a responsible cat owner. If they brought in license fees I'd comply, as dumb as it is. Certainly a cat has never bitten a child's face off or bitten an old lady in the leg.

Just say no to Campbell!

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i love my cat, he is sociable, friendly and very tame, but he is a ruthless serial killer, often torturing birds by catching them, injuring them, releasing them, and catching them again. he kills 3-4 birds a week, usually sparrows and thrushes, and never eats them. with over a million cats in NZ, the numbers of their victims would be phenomenal. i have bought collars with bells on for my cat but somehow he gets the bell off every time.

i think putting a registration fee on cats would discourage "cat lady" type behaviour and help to keep the numbers down. i also think that neutering of cats should be widely available free or much cheaper than it is now. also possibly implement a limit on how many cats one household can have.

if anybody from auckland would like to have their cat neutered, get in touch with my friend danielle at www.gutterkitties.co.nz as she arranges neutering for only $20.

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love to have a 'lounge tiger' (will soon have one, Denny, DENNY CRANE) but would never agree to a cat which roams around and kills lizards, geckos and native birds because that is what they do and people saying my cat is different she would never kill have no clue about cats in my opinion - like the SPCA guy, what's his name, made a really poor statement about cats on Campbell, makes you think, does he actually know what he is talking about... :sick:

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I didn't watch the Campbell thing, not really a fan of his style either. This has been an issue for me for some time, even while we still owned a cat. I used to work at a [plant] nursery in suburban Auckland, and the damage done by cats there was huge. They would perforate a new plastic greenhouse roof in a matter of weeks to the point where it was like a shower when it rained, they would rotary-hoe trays of seedlings and crap in the dry mix, and on a hot day watering certain greenhouses was like a cat-crap sauna, so stinky!! Also the bias between dog control laws and the complete abscense of restrictions on cats rustles my jimmies. We live opposite AH Reid reserve (an area of bush with many large kauri trees and native wildlife), I'm not even allowed to walk my dogs thru there during the day on-leash despite them having done a Kiwi Aversion course, yet people bordering the park and in surrounding areas are free to own as many cats as they like, and those cats are free to roam day and night. Doesn't seem fair to me...

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I agree that there does need to be some tightening up of the cat control laws in this country however the whole "kill all the cats" approach is ridiculous. As with dogs, it's all in the up bringing. My cat is fed well, cared for and kept inside at night (for her own safety) and she's ever only caught a couple of birds back in the day, now she couldn't catch one if she had to :lol: All responsibility falls on the owner, if they can't get their cats in at night and control what they catch, let fines and confiscation ensue.

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i wonder what the result would be if every cat was instantly removed from the planet. Yeah there will be more birds but i'm not sure that we will see more natives around, certainly it's likely there will be an increase of the introduced birds. Will there be a dramatic increase in pests like mice and rats?

Are people also aware that possums eat birds eggs and fledglings, the native birds that share the more rural bush areas (out of city limits) with possums which must be the majority of native populations will become more prolific if more effort is made to reduce possums, the fauna certainly will.

I think gareth morgan's idea will be as successful as trying to ban beer and more funding should go to schemes like reducing possum numbers and planting native bush if they are serious about increasing native bird populations.

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I think gareth morgan's idea will be as successful as trying to ban beer

Speakeasies with cats instead of booze, cat fanatics will turn into criminals just trying to get their daily fix. Imagine a shady tavern full of old ladies petting cats in jumpers :nilly:

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My kitty lives strickly indoors and only ever hunts flies :lol:

I think tighter laws are definatley needed. NZ is one of the only countries in the world where it's "normal" for cats to be allowed outside. Overseas they are indoor pets or have a strict curfew the owners need to adhear too.

As with dogs its about responcible ownership. Maybe a desexing and/or registering law would help with this problem as well as the problem of over-kitty population.

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NZ is one of the only countries in the world where it's "normal" for cats to be allowed outside.

nope

Overseas they are indoor pets or have a strict curfew the owners need to adhear too.

I can only speak for Europe, there is no law to keep your cat inside (at least not in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France and Italy) but they do not that much harm to the environment when they roam because there were always wild cats and lynx around so the birds, lizards and geckos are aware of the danger coming from domestic cats and do not just sit on the ground and watch the things happening and waiting till its over...

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The majority of our native birds are defenseless against cats. For many centuries they have lived here with very few predators to fear, possibly the NZ Falcon being the most common predator. Therefore our birds are more susceptible to attack as they are more docile, often eating low to the ground where they can readily be attacked...

Register all cats and use the money to protect and preserve existing native bush and their inhabitants.

(Would prefer to see them all gone but don't think this is realistic)

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As with dogs, it's all in the up bringing. My cat is fed well, cared for and kept inside at night (for her own safety) and she's ever only caught a couple of birds back in the day, now she couldn't catch one if she had to :lol: All responsibility falls on the owner, if they can't get their cats in at night and control what they catch, let fines and confiscation ensue.

I disagree, cats are far less responsive in terms of active control as dogs and dogs are very rarely able to catch lizards or birds and are heavily regulated and controlled if any kind of comparison is made. Im kind of astounded that someone can say "my cats only ever caught a couple etc etc..". Are you home all day everyday? do you make sure your cat doesn't ever leave the house? even during day time? or do you let it do its own thing when your at work? do you supervise your cat when he's outside or do you attach a webcam to your kitty in order to assure and maintain the accuracy of these low numbers? Often feeding the cat well just translates to more torture for the bird or lizard.

I think gareth morgan's idea will be as successful as trying to ban beer and more funding should go to schemes like reducing possum numbers and planting native bush if they are serious about increasing native bird populations.

Its not just about the birds, possums are a pest just like cats and doc does a lot of work through the bush eradicating them and planting natives already. What we are looking at is a problem, that statistically needs far more drastic action than possum eradication.

http://www.nhc.net.nz/index/lizards-new-zealand/lizards.htm

"New Zealand has about 60 species of lizards, the largest lizard species diversity in a temperate region. Now nearly all are threatened, in low numbers, only found in isolated pockets or on predator free islands. Habitat loss and introduced pests such as cats are the primary causes. We have the highest number of cats per head of population in the world and what is believed to be the world's largest population of Mustelidae (stoats, ferrets etc). New Zealand lizards are found nowhere else (endemic), and having developed free of introduced predators need our help survive them."
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