Why People Are Shooting Cats in New Zealand

A hunting competition in New Zealand has recently come under fire for introducing a category in which children under the age of 14 were tasked with killing as many feral cats as possible.

Following the uproar, the North Canterbury Hunting Competition canceled the category, which was originally announced on April 14 and would have seen children shooting the feral cats for a prize of NZ$250 ($155).

Outraged animal rights organizations argued that children wouldn't know the difference between a feral cat and someone's pet. Although the competition stated that entrants who killed someone's pet would be disqualified, this was "too little too late," a spokesperson for animal rights group SAFE told The Guardian. This is because a microchip would only be discovered on a cat after it has been killed.

In a statement, the North Canterbury Hunting Competition said it had removed the category to avoid further backlash.

Newsweek has contacted the organization for further information.

But why does such a feral cat hunt even take place?

Feral cats pose a risk to the native ecosystem in New Zealand. They are the same species as domestic cats, but they live outside, and don't allow themselves to be touched or handled by humans.

These cats eat native birds, some of which are endangered, as well as their eggs.

Feral cat control has become a political issue in the past, with politicians voicing whether they support the control of them or not.

The Department of Conservation supports the hunting of feral cats as long as humane methods are used to kill them. However, the principal scientist at the department, Craig Gillies, agreed that as feral and domestic cats are the same species, it's difficult to tell them apart. Feral cats are also not the same as stray cats, which usually depend on humans to be fed and usually don't pose the same risks to the environment.

The statement from the North Canterbury Hunting Competition generated heated debate on social media.

One Facebook user, responding to the post, said her family had taken to shooting wild cats that ventured onto her property because of the harm they caused.

"If only people knew the damage wild cats cause around the place. Yes our birds etc but also has an effect on our farming. Wild cats carry diseases, at lambing can cause our sheep to abort their lambs, not ideal having dead lambs everywhere. Just one example.

"For instance we have a pet cat, he is a neutered, chipped male, we adopted him. The only cat on the property. We live in the middle of nowhere, no neighbours for quite a few ks [kilometers]. Yet we still seem to have quite a population of wild cats getting about. They are having to come from somewhere. If people [stopped dumping their] unwanted Christmas and birthday presents that would be a start. So for now we will continue to shoot wild cats that we see on the property in order to protect everything else," she said.

SAFE argues that there are more humane methods to deal with New Zealand's feral cat population, however.

It recommends mandatory microchipping, registering and de-sexing of pet cats, as well as trap, meter and release programmes. These programs operate to capture outdoor cats and neuter them so they don't contribute to the growing population.

The charity also recommends rescuing, rehoming and adoption.

Some took to social media to voice their concerns about the feral cat hunt.

"This is deplorable on so many levels. Teaching children that it's OK to kill cats—or any animals—is how you teach a generation that cruelty is acceptable," animal rights advocate Mark Hawthorne said in a tweet.

Another Twitter user said: "Horrendous! Shoot them with contraceptive darts instead as others have successfully done."

The North Canterbury Hunting Competition had 250 children and 650 adults enter last year. Children have been able to participate before, killing other animals like rabbits and possums. But this is the first time that cat killing had been counted as a competitive category for children.

The money generated from the competition goes to a local school.

Update 4/20/23, 4:34 a.m. EDT: This article was updated to include additional comment from a Facebook user.

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