Children holding dead cats shout 'meat' at protestors after Canterbury cull. Video / Supplied
Protesters outside a Canterbury hunting competition say they were appalled when they were confronted by 100 children parading their kill shouting “meat, meat, meat”.
But organisers of the competition hit back, saying protesters called the children “murderers”and were partly to blame for provoking the incident.
The controversy comes after the North Canterbury Hunting Competition in Rotherham reinstated a feral cat killing category, backtracking from its initial ban.
Christchurch Animal Save organiser Sarah Jackson says their group of 10 had to leave yesterday, when more than 100 children began chanting at them.
An attendee at the Noth Canterbury Hunting Competition flinging a deceased cat around.
She says a lot of the children, as young as 7, were yelling at them to go eat carrots and swinging dead animals in their faces.
She said they also were yelled at by adults.
“We had a lot of people hurling abuse at us,” said Jackson.
“By the end of it there were three children standing there with kittens, just these kittens in their hands, with big smiles on their face thinking it was a great joke.”
Jackson said the kids were also flinging around deceased baby pigs and rabbits.
"There were three children standing there with kittens, just these kittens in their hands, with big smiles on their face thinking it was a great joke", says Christchurch Animal Save organiser Sarah Jackson.
Tournament organiser Matt Bailey has responded saying that the children were behaving the way they were as a reaction to being called “murderers” by the protesters.
“I asked one of the kids what was happening and they said ‘they’ve been calling us murderers’,” said Bailey.
“My take on it, was that [they] (the protesters) sort of provoked it.
“They came up here to us and I don’t think people take too kindly to others calling their kids murderers. It’s a bit of a shame that they had to do that.”
Bailey said his team told the children to stop hassling the protesters when it became known to them how they were behaving during a busy day.
He said hunters were warned prior not to engage with the protesters.
Bailey said the protesters also directly called him a murderer - he responded by thanking them for coming and helping the tournament to gain more media attention and attendance.
Jackson also told the Herald that she was disappointed in the children’s parents, saying they are the ones who have set such an example.
“A lot of them have been conditioned to think that that’s okay and it’s normal, the children are just trying to have fun, you know, but in the worst way possible and their parents are leading by example of showing these children that it’s okay to treat animals with violence,” said Jakson.
“It’s extremely heartbreaking.”
Bailey said it was “sad” that some people didn’t understand what country life is like in New Zealand.
“You know, if you grew up in a country where snow skiing was a major thing, you would, you know, end up going snow skiing. If you end up in a country where hunting’s your main thing, you go hunting,” said Bailey.
“It’s normal life to them [the kids].”
North Canterbury Hunting Competition's new format for cat killing category. Photo / Supplied
Police say it appears the protesters left before they arrived.
The protest took place at midday Sunday, outside the final weigh-in at Amuri A&P showgrounds where thousands gathered for the competition.
Jackson understands that the competition participants and organisers were not checking for microchips in the cats they caught, and said one local told her that his cat was missing.
However, Bailey questioned why someone’s pet cat would be all the way out of his rural farm.
“We’ve had no one around and say you’ve shot my cat. It’s two different parts of the world. We know what these creatures look like when they’re caged,” he said.
Bailey said the competition and the cat killing category will only continue to grow bigger and more popular with 22 people already indicating that they would like to sponsor the category next year.
Bailey earlier said that his group has a different perspective, and wants to look after the country’s native species.
The competition previously withdrew a cash prize to under-14s for killing the most feral cats, after a backlash from animal rights activists.
It then went ahead as an adults-only category, with hunting only taking place outside residential safe zones.
Animal welfare group SAFE threw its support behind the protesters last week.
SAFE spokesperson Will Applebe said rule the changes around residential safe zones and age restrictions didn’t solve the problem.
SPCA Science Officer Dr Alison Vaughan said there’s no reliable way to tell the difference between a feral, stray or frightened pet cat, based on their behaviour when trapped in a cage.
