Feline loving Christchurch couple booted from rental for keeping 20 cats

A Christchurch couple had about 20 cats roaming their rental without the landlord's permision. Photo / 123rf

A Christchurch couple with 20 cats in their rental have been given the boot and ordered to pay $4000 to fix the carpets and curtains.

Craig and Maryann Dance had earlier been booted from the Woolston unit they rented from Toby Agnew in May, following a Tenancy Tribunal hearing.

Now in a recent follow up hearing they have also been ordered to pay $565 in unpaid rent, $2764 to replace damaged carpets and curtains and $39 for bug bombs, among other costs.

The Tenancy Tribunal adjudicator said the property owner had provided evidence the Dance's kept about 20 cats in the rental without permission.

For this reason he ordered them to pay for the damage to the unit.

"I am satisfied because of the number of cats, the fact the landlord asked for the cats to be removed and the failure of the tenants to do so, that the damage was intentional," the adjudicator said.

The Dance's were also booted from a rental in Christhchurch Central last September after failing to pay $2780 in rent, according to a Tenancy Tribunal decision at the time.