Feral cat project runs out of funding

Dr Liza Schneider with a de-sexed 8-week-old male kitten at Tauranga's Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre. Photo / FIle

A project that got 1200 stray cats off Tauranga's streets will now focus its work on Rotorua after failing to get local funding - something the deputy mayor thinks the city may regret in future.

Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (ARRC) Wildlife Trust had run the Bay of Plenty Community Cat Project in Tauranga for three years. In that time, more than 1200 cats from 40 colonies had been contained in the city through desexing and re-homing programmes.

ARRC director and co-founder of the community cat project Dr Liza Schneider said there were more than 20 known remaining colonies in Tauranga, but nothing could be done about them due to financial constraints and a lack of co-operation of the local community.

"Until legislation comes into play, or we get more support from the community or funding from the council, we can't do anything about the remaining colonies."

Dr Schneider said the community cat project had been given funding of $110,000 over two years by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to carry out its work.

Because Rotorua's need for help containing its stray cats was considered greater than Tauranga's, the $110,000 would be mostly focused on the Rotorua area. Both the Rotorua Lakes Council and the Rotorua SPCA were firmly on board with the project, Dr Schneider said.

"The council is on board, the public is on board, the SPCA is on board. It's working really well. Unfortunately, this means Tauranga has fallen by the wayside."

Dr Schneider said the project had cost $120,000 per year to operate in Tauranga. In the three years the project operated in the city, Holistic Vets, of which Dr Schneider is the director, paid $30,000 per year and Tauranga City Council contributed $3000 per year, she said.

Dr Schneider said funding was still needed to support the project and people could donate through the project's Give a Little page.

In the Tauranga City Council Long Term Plan deliberations, council declined ARRC's request for funding of $35,000 per year to support the community cat project and requested staff work with the regional council to identify opportunities to address the cat issue.

Deputy Mayor Kelvin Clout said he was personally "very disappointed" at the decision not to fund the project.

"Feral cats have quite an impact on our native wildlife, bird life especially. ARRC was doing a fantastic job on very skinny resources. They did warn us, if we cut the funding, they would discontinue in Tauranga."

Mr Clout believed Tauranga would possibly have to reinstate a similar programme in future and it may end up costing considerably more than ARRC was doing it for.

SPCA operations manager Margaret Rawiri had not responded to messages when the Bay of Plenty Times went to print.

CAT PROJECT Q&A

How many registered colonies already registered in Tauranga?

In three years, 40 colonies have been contained, more than 1200 cats taken off the streets, more than 770 desexed, more than 680 re-homed and more than 340 humanely euthanased. There are approximately 20 colonies still registered in Tauranga.

How much does the project cost?

Approximately $180 per cat. The bigger costs lie in the time and resources required to gain control of the colonies and work with the community to ensure a better understanding of the issue.