A wildlife advocacy group is urging Wairarapa councils to go harder on cat regulations in a proposed set of bylaws.
Carterton District Council would be the first council to adopt the revised Wairarapa Consolidated Bylaw at its meeting on Wednesday.
Despite several changes being consulted on, the final proposed set of bylaws was largely similar to the current version.
At a recent Wairarapa bylaw hearing, Forest and Bird presented detailed examples of cat-related nuisance from Masterton, Carterton, and South Wairarapa, and advocated for proactive regulation, including desexing and identification of owned cats.
This stance was also supported by SPCA and Companion Animals New Zealand.
Despite this plea, council officers recommended no amendments to the bylaws and the Wairarapa Policy Working Group agreed with officers.
Instead, council officers would survey residents about their willingness to pay for cat desexing, microchipping and enforcement, prior to the 2030 review of the bylaws.
This was because enforcing cat regulation would be hard and doing so would come at a cost, council staff said.
The only explicit mention of cats in the proposed set of Wairarapa bylaws was that written approval by an authorised officer was required to keep more than three cats aged three months or older on any property located in an urban area for a period exceeding 14 days.
Forest and Bird regional conservation manager Amelia Geary was disappointed that suggested changes regarding cat regulation had not made it into the final draft document.
“These are commonsense measures that protect both animal welfare and native wildlife,” Geary said.
“Yet Wairarapa councils appear unwilling to follow suit, ignoring mounting evidence and community concern.”
She said failing to enforce stricter regulation on cats would “continue to place the burden onto already overstretched animal welfare charities and volunteers”.
At the bylaw hearing, Wairarapa Forest and Bird Committee member Peta Campbell said the group had canvassed the Wairarapa community for examples of cat-related nuisance.
One example she gave was from rural Greytown where a woman had suffered two miscarriages which were both attributed to toxoplasmosis – a parasite that is only spread through cats faeces.
The cats had been defecating in the woman’s garden, Campbell said.
Geary urged Wairarapa councils to re-notify the bylaw and introduce responsible, enforceable cat management policies.
“Anything less is a disservice to the community, our native wildlife, and the many groups working tirelessly to protect both.”
Neighbouring Tararua district amended its bylaws last year to include mandated microchipping and desexing of cats over six months old.
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