Wellingtonians facing capping on number of cats they can own

People wanting to have more than three cats need council permission first. Photo / iStock

Wellingtonians wanting to own more than three cats may have to ask the city council for permission first.

The council's environment committee will on Thursday be presented with a proposed animal bylaw, capping the number of cats a person can own without council consent.

People wanting to have more than three need council permission first.

Environment committee chairwoman Iona Pannett said it's about making sure cat owners are staying responsible.

She said cats are wonderful but people who own them need to keep in mind the consequences.

Ms Pannett says it's not quite the cat curfew top economist Gareth Morgan wants.

She said the public will be asked for their opinion on a curfew, but at the moment it's not part of the bylaw.

In 2013, Morgan launched a campaign to eradicate domestic cats. He set up a website called Cats to Go, where he called the animals sadists and natural-born killers that destroy native wildlife.

Last year, he called for all cats to be microchipped and registered so councils had the ability to adopt a "wandering cat strategy" to monitor cat behaviour.

He claimed a recent study of cat behaviour in Auckland revealed the number of times cats trespassed on other people's properties was 300 million a year.

The economist's conservation group, the Morgan Foundation, is part of the National Cat Management Strategy Group (NCMSG), which includes the SPCA, Local Government New Zealand and the New Zealand Veterinary Association.

Ministry for Primary Industries and Department of Conservation have technical advisory members on board.

The group wants the estimated 2.5 million feral cats gone by 2025.