As Gareth Morgan continues his crusade against cats, supposedly to save native birds, one wonders what the end game is for him on the issue and whether he has a bad case of ailurophobia - the persistent, irrational fear of cats.
Each week, Mr Morgan seems to find a new way to "skin the cat" and make the news, last week putting "wanted" posters up for SPCA board members at a small meeting in Karori.
Every year, SPCA centres around the country receive 60,000 animals through their doors with 14,000 animal-welfare complaints, with many requiring return or follow-up visits. Much of this work is done by volunteers and, for Mr Morgan to put up childish wanted posters, smacks of a shallow, attention-seeking media stunt against an honourable and important institution. Mr Morgan doesn't deserve any more coverage on this issue because his crusade is clearly now just self-indulgent fantasy.
Hundreds of thousands of cat owners are not going to confine their cats indoors. It just won't happen. There's no popular support for it, political or otherwise. So where are we going with this? It just seems to be all about Gareth.
If we want to have a debate about saving native birds, let us start with the biggest culprit of all, humans. The Once-ler has been and gone and the Lorax isn't going to suddenly appear to save our precious birds. Sure we have trees on orchards, but birds are actively sought and shot in that environment. Never mind the cats.
