Invercargill 'cat lady' denies charges brought by Council

Cats sit on the windowsill at Averil Gardiner's Invercargill home. Photo / Allison Beckham, ODT

Invercargill City Council staff have been trying to reduce the number of cats kept on a city property for almost three and-a half years, the Invercargill District Court heard yesterday.

Despite negotiations dating back to September 2011, prosecutor Sarah McKenzie said she understood Averil Gardiner at present had 25 cats on her Thurso St property.

Gardiner has denied two charges - one of breaching an Invercargill City Council bylaw by failing to comply with a notice instructing her to reduce the number of cats on her property to no more than three, and a second charge laid under the Health Act, 1956, that she allowed cats to create a nuisance.

A judge-alone trial began before Judge David Saunders, of Christchurch, yesterday, and is expected to conclude today.

The judge had granted media representatives permission to take photographs and film during the trial but Gardiner shielded her face with a piece of paper during the entire hour-long hearing. Outside court, she shied away from a photographer by putting an arm over her face, then an umbrella.

Former council compliance officer Robert Gerard Bird said the first complaint about the cats was received from one of Gardiner's neighbours in September 2011. His first visit to the house was in February, 2012.

Over the years, more complaints continued to be received, mainly about the large number of cats and the "extensive" amount of faeces they were depositing on nearby properties.

Mr Bird outlined the many letters, emails, inspections, meetings and enforcement notices during late 2011, 2012, 2013 and early 2014. During that time, Gardiner wrote two cat management strategies outlining how she would contain the cats on her property, Mr Bird said.

Some of the work was done, with Gardiner installing netting and a wooden fence at the rear of her house. But the cats still escaped and were photographed by neighbours.

The bylaw came into effect in September 2013. Mr Bird said Gardiner was served notice in December 2013, to reduce the number of cats to no more than three to comply with the bylaw. That message was reinforced at a meeting the same month.

Gardiner said she could not afford to pay for the necessary fencing and asked if the council would assist, Mr Bird said. The request was considered but there was a "negative response".

Another notice to reduce the number of cats was served on February 25 last year. In March, Mr Bird and another council staff member went to the property.

On that day Gardiner told them she had 26 cats and he said he could see there were many more than three.

"During the inspection, we counted the number of cats we could see through a window ... An extraordinary number were seen."

After that inspection, Mr Bird said he wrote a report recommending the council consider prosecuting Gardiner.

He resigned from the council in April and took up a similar role with Environment Southland.

To Simon Claver, who appeared for Gardiner, Mr Bird said Gardiner tried to comply with council requests to contain the cats but the plans "did not come through".

"So if the cats had been able to be contained we wouldn't be here today," Mr Claver said.

Mr Bird said that might be true, but said there was still a potential for the cats to be a nuisance because of their large numbers.