Protest to protect Bay stray cats

Paihia Cat Protection spokesperson Klaus Kurz. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A group set up to feed a stray cat colony in Paihia is planning a protest later this month against council plans to catch and re-home the remaining cats.

The cat colony has become an contentious issue in the Bay of Islands town. The Paihia Cat Protection group (PCP) has set up a feeding station, with council permission, on School Rd and wants the remaining cats to live out their lives where they are.

But conservation groups such as Bay Bush Action, which is trying to restore native birdlife in the nearby Opua Forest, want the cats removed, saying they pose a risk to wildlife such as the rare NZ dotterel.

The council believes only a few strays remain. It wants to catch them and find homes for them via the Bay of Islands SPCA.

PCP spokesman Klaus Kurz said the group had collected close to 1000 signatures calling on the council to let the cats stay. The group is also planning a protest at Paihia's Village Green at 1pm on May 23.

The protest had originally been scheduled for May 16 but has been postponed by a week.

Guest speakers would discuss cats and ecology and flyers would be given out. Mr Klaus said he expected a counter-demonstration and possibly even a "violent confrontation".