Fur flies over cat campaign posters

SPCA general manager Jane Thompson said more than 250 cats were neutered during the weekend. Picture / Paul Estcourt

An SPCA cat-neutering campaign has been hailed a success, but the society's Auckland head yesterday admitted some promotional posters could have been offensive or frightening to the public.

Veterinary teams worked through the weekend, performing cut-price castrations and discounted de-sexings of cats pre-booked for the procedure, at the society's Mangere animal village.

General manager Jane Thompson said more than 250 cats - about 60 per cent of which were male - were neutered, in an event she believed was the only one of its kind in the world.

The teams turned their attention to a backlog of rabbits when the supply of cats dried up.

But flyers distributed by the SPCA promoting its wider de-sexing campaign have raised a few eyebrows.

The posters - drawing attention to the society's 'De-sex in the City' campaign - warned South Auckland residents of a sexual offender living in their neighbourhood, who walked with a limp, wore a gold chain and had previously "violated" females as young as five months.

The offender was identified as "Mr Whiskers".

The posters appeared on one website, prompting a handful of complaints about insensitivity following high-profile incidents such as the Kahui twins' killing. One postee to the website slammed the campaign as "a bit close to the bone". Another claimed it was "really, really bad taste".

SPCA chief executive Bob Kerridge yesterday admitted the posters could have left some residents worried a sexual predator was on the loose in their area. A "couple of hundred" posters were produced, and were distributed in the south Auckland area last week. No offence was intended by the promotion, and he appreciated the comments of the one woman who had contacted him directly.

"We had one observation from one person, which we think was a fair one, that people might be a bit concerned.

"When I had a discussion with the person ... I thought: 'There's a point there.' We go into a campaign full of fire ... then all of a sudden a sensible member of the public goes: 'Oi'."

The posters - designed by Auckland public relations firm Spice Communications - would be taken down early this week, Mr Kerridge said.

Ms Thompson said it was likely another de-sexathon would be held next year "if we can get enough donations and save enough money".

CAT STATS

Numbers through the doors at Auckland RSPCA in the last financial year:

* Cats received (through collection or dropped off): 11,979. (About 60 per cent are kittens).

* Returned to owners: about 1000

* Adopted: 3541

* Euthanased (due to ill health, age or temperament): 7500

* National cat population: about 1.8 million (domestics and strays).