KEY POINTS:
- Should councils limit the number of pets per household?
A council wants to set a limit of two cats per household because of complaints from the public. But some argue it is going too far.
This forum debate has now closed. Here is a selection of your views on the topic.
Rachael
I can see from one point of view that putting a limit on number of cats per household may be sensible. Don't get me wrong - I have three cats and love them to bits - they are our family. However, our next door neighbour has 17 cats, (who are not all well looked after, as they look as though they struggle to look after themselves), and these cats stress the heck out of my poor cats, coming over to our section, marking their territory, forcing our cats to retreat into the house and spray, etc, in response to their territory being threatened. I personally think this is over-board, and think maybe some (more sensible) limit should come into place. Or perhaps, making cat owners 'register' their cats, or in some way be totally responsible for the full and total care for their cats' health and well-being, as we insist dog owners are.
Roy, expat Kiwi
This is an excellent idea. It is in the best interests of New Zealand's unique and irreplaceable birdlife. Cat droppings in other peoples' gardens are health hazard, most importantly toxoplasmosis, which is spread by cats. Besides being a significant cause of abortions in farm animals, toxoplasmosis can cause birth defects if contracted by a pregnant woman. Women should not have to risk birth defects in their baby as a result of the neighbour's cat using their vege garden as a dirtbox, but that's the risk New Zealand women face.
Two cats should be the default maximum and if people want more, they should have to satisfy the council that (1) their cats are never allowed to roam outdoors but are always in the house or an enclosure from which they cannot escape, and (2) all the cats are cared for in a responsible way. Also, all cats should be microchipped and if a cat is picked up stray and has no microchip, it should be euthanized. Same for dogs, of course.
This makes far more sense than the stupid legislation against pet ferrets, which their owners did not allow to roam free in the first place, so they were no danger to native birds and they don't carry toxoplasmosis either.
Bluecat (Auckland)
As every good cat owner knows nobody owns a cat so maybe the council should be looking at allowing the cats a limit of 2 humans in their household.
Whiskers (Welcome Bay)
House cats don't bother native birds! Native birds are too big and fast for a house cat. We have 5 cats. They all hang out in the house most of the time. We feed and vet them well. They hunt/eat mice and rats. Once every few weeks our cats may eat a sparrow or another small common bird. We live out in the country surrounded by cow pasture. What good would limiting cats do?
Sarah (Rotorua)
My life revolves around my three cats who are given much love and attention. It is up to individuals to decide whether they can afford pets and have the time to devote to them.
SR (Hastings)
I was brought up in a family that owned 5 cats at one time. They were all healthy and well looked after. Creating more regulations is not going to control those low-lifes that the regulations are aimed at. We should look at a form of public policing that exposes those that mistreat, or do not control their animals, and prevent them from ever owning animals. Rather than creating more weak regulations that pretty much make life more difficult for law-abiding citizens and have no effect on scumbags that are always going to challenge the rules. Councils should develop some aggressive strategies rather than being so politically correct and 'pussy' footing around the problem.
Once bitten, twice shy
Cats aren't the reason why I can't safely walk my local streets; dogs are. Round up all the loose dogs - and heavily fine the owners. Then maybe our streets will be safe enough for residents to go for a walk in their own neighbourhood.
Heather
I would like to see some sort of registration for cats and a limit of say 3 per household. If you want more, you need to get permission from your neighbours and have the SPCA visit to make sure you're not one of those animal-hoarding nutjobs. There is this solo mum down the road who seems to acquire a new kitten when the 'cuteness' wears off the previous one and her kids whine for a new plaything - and heaven forbid she's ever heard of spaying.
JR
Absolutely correct. Animals should be confined to the zoo and kept in cages. Dirty little creatures - doing their business all over the place. We New Zealanders are such sensible people - leading the world to a better future through State Control. Oh dear - I feel I'm about to pass wind and destroy a little more ozone. Who should I call, I don't have the appropriate license and I've passed my free entitlement for the month. I could call my local council to get an emergency release permit, or perhaps just wait for my increased annual permit from the newly established Find Another Ridiculous Tax department set up by Helen's mob. I suppose I could appeal to the Greens because I was smacked as a child. Oops - too late!
Possum
Cats are a menace. No one keeps them on their own property, they always foul the neighbour's place never their own. They run wild killing bird life for pleasure even when well fed. Why do cats not have to be registered? Why are they allowed to roam free? Cat owners should be subjected to rules and bounds as dog owners are.
Kitty or kiddie keeper
Perhaps we should really look at the people. Some kids are worse than kitties.
Does that mean we should ban more than 2 children per family? Now is that 2 boys or 2 girls or 1 boy 1 girl Give me the kitties any day.
Andrew
I have a cat at home that originally came to me, crawling up my steps, as a staving kitten because someone decided to not bother taking responsibility for her - leaving me with this 'forced adoption'. She's a very cute kitty, but I'm sick of being dragged out of bed by passionate meowing at 3am, because she wants something. Solution: only allow official organisations to breed cats (and dogs). The public should not be allowed to buy cat or dog that hasn't been castrated. Why not? This should keep everyone happy (especially me!).
Sarah
The thing about cats is you can't control where they go because you can't fence them in like you can with dogs. Restricting the number of cats people are allowed to own will not change this and keeping them indoors at all times is plain insane. It's just a cat - not going to bite your face off. And like it's been said before, the people that cause the problems don't care about the rules anyway.
Malcolm Pullman (Sandy Bay)
From ground level my few surviving skink and gecko friends applaud any controls on cats. They hate being eaten alive and I am sure their mates the fantails and other little birds would agree. Councils throughout New Zealand should be looking at much stricter controls on dogs and cats, especially as new subdivisions reach further into the countryside. In most places two cats, however much loved by their humans - whether vegetarians or meat eaters - are two too many.
AKG (Auckland)
I don't have a problem with cats per se - in fact our daughter and her partner have two cats but they look after their cats and are responsible owners! I do have a problem with people who own 5 plus cats and who aren't responsible owners and let these cats poo in our garden. The smell is dreadful! Not to mention the cats coming into our garage if the door is open and weeing which smell is even more horrendous than the poo smell! I choose not to have animals and that's my right - pet owners should respect my right in exactly the same way as they want me to respect their right to own animals. Keep your animals on your property and clean up the mess they make and then there will be no problem! If you can't manage this request then don't have animals - what can be more simple than this!
Reen
Yes I think restricting the number of cats is important. It is sad to experience the loss of native birds in reserves and also in the suburbs. I used to enjoy 'White Eyes' in my garden but sadly they were easy prey for the new cats in the area. I now have only a few sparrows, the odd thrush and the occasional blackbird.
Angela
"People should lock up their cats from 9pm like in Aussie to stop them eating the wildlife..."
So you and I can eat animals but cats can't? We can destroy the planet but cats can't go to the toilet in a precious little pot plant? Come on people. People should lock up humans to stop them eating other animals, polluting the atmosphere etc and basically destroying our planet. We are by far the worst species on this planet and the least intelligent too. The human race will never cease to amaze me with its hypocrisy. This idea is pathetic.
Steph
So people can have dogs that bark and car alarms that constantly go off, loud stereos and irritating screaming babies but we can't have a few harmless cats? Also, when will humans realise that we are not the only ones on this earth. If people can't put up with the other species that share this earth why don't they move? Annoyances are a part of life. What business is it of anybody's if someone has a dirty house? And I am a multiple cat owner and I have a very clean house! Has the council got nothing better to do honestly? How about fixing the roads or traffic problems caused by too many cars or something more important! Live and let live. Animals are everywhere and are by far less of a pest than humans!
Annie
I have two cats (7 and 8 years old) and my boyfriend has two cats (5 and 6 years old). We got married and the three of them moved in with the three of us. Our four boys get the best of food, love and care. Would it be fair to make us get rid of two of them just to keep to the 'limit'? They are our children. Will Council's next decision be to limit human children in a household too??????? Particular when so many 'parents' can't actually afford their children but continue to conceive! Fairs fair!
catwoman ( Auckland )
Some of the myopic views here are beyond me. Are we forgetting that cats (and dogs)were domesticated & introduced by ourselves? It is our fault the problems of overpopulation exist; limiting numbers of pets will make no difference to the issue. How exactly will this be policed-by knocking on each door & checking? No it will be the same as the existing animal control laws affecting dogs; responsible owners will pay for those who think it is their right to own animals. Stop pet shops selling animals, make desexing obligatory and let the SPCA have some Government funding. That may help.
Lonely Miaow
There are far too many stray cats and kittens in the Auckland region, up to 500,000 adults, plus kittens, in an estimated 30,000 colonies. Lonely Miaow rescues 800 a year. We need to build Auckland's first Cat Rescue Centre along the lines of the one currently being constructed in Melbourne. Please help us achieve this goal. Log on to our website now:www.lonelymiaow.co.nz If the Aussies can do it we can too!
Boston
Indeed. Humans are not the only species entitled to live on this earth. The person who suggests all stray cats be put down is the type of human that needs to be eradicated from this earth as they are nothing but selfish, harm inflicting pests. Confining cats to one property is very unrealistic come on. Do you think about things you do that bother your neighbours? I bet not.If the council had any sense they would put a law in place for de sexing and if they have so much time and money to waste as it seems they do then they should fund de sexing.
Karl Rohde
Oh dear... here we go again. Licensing/restrictions/prohibition simply does not work. Who cause the problems with guns, dogs, drugs, cats, unsafe vehicles, drunk driving. People who couldn't care a less about the "rules". The only people regulations like these impact are law abiding citizens. Spend more time educating and less time policing, then focus that policing on the small number of law breakers/abusers. Hmmm... don't believe me? Name one single prohibition based regulatory regime that has seen positive results. Just one... and I will eat my hat.
Susan Johnson
I don't care how many how many cats a person has as long as they keep them on their own property. That is what the problem is, they want to have pets and let them run over everybody elses place. Perhaps if wandering animals were put down, no exceptions, people would suddenly look after them better.
L (NSC)
Limiting the number of pets.This just gets funnier and funnier. What's next? We are only allowed to have 2 kids?Men must only wear white boxers and women are not allowed to use g strings! Let's also put a law in that allows us to only buy brown toilet paper. That way, the government doesn't have to camouflage anything when they are trying to wipe their arses cos they are so full of sh..
Krystall (Auckland)
They should make it compulsory for cat owners to have their animals desexed unless they are a registered breeder. How this will be enforced is beyond me, but its saddening to see the tonnes of cats dropped off at the SPCA or roaming around your streets, homeless and starving to digging into the rubbish and doing their business on your lawn. but to tell someone they can't have more then 2, isn't solving any problems. so what if we can only have two, Two is all it takes to make a whole litter more!Problem not solved. Sometimes it makes me wonder if these people running our city have any common sense at all.
Neil(Auckland)
We have a cat, it stays indoors all the time except when we take it out for a walk (on a leash) so it doesn't go around the neighbourhood killing birds and crapping in other peoples gardens. It has a litter box to do it's business. I don't see why I should be limited to just 2 if I am a responsible owner.
tweetie
Yay for the native birds of this country. At last they might be given a lifeline.
Sarah K
First we are punished for the sick individuals who beat and kill their children and now we are being punished for another lot of sicko cowards who hurt and abuse animals. Like the anti-smacking law, this new two cat per family business will not stop cruel, stupid and inhumane people from killing, abusing and you guessed it - having more than two animals at one time.
Animal lover
I recently obtained a kitten from the Auckland SPCA. She was only 8 weeks old but had the day before I got her been spayed. It is the SPCA's policy that no animals leave their premises without first being spayed. A small fee was paid by me to them for this service which also included worming, her first innoculation, and free vet care for her first 2 weeks with me. This start in life ensures that all animals passing through this responsible organisation's hands are handled with care and thought for the pets future and wellbeing with its new owners. I also signed a form stating that I would not mind a member of their staff contacting me in the future to arrange a home visit so they could inspect my home and the way I was caring for my little orphan. As usual full marks to the SPCA. Could Auckland City Council match this level of civic responsibility - I doubt it.
Speedy
Limiting a household to two cats is impractical and costly. The minute a cat has a litter of 4 kittens how long does the owner have to get at least 3 kittens out of the house?? Common sense seems to be the prevailing requirement... but here's the real puzzle. If we need a licence to have a dog (and they live til about 12) then why dont we need a licence to have kids cause if parents raised there kidz with common sense then we wouldn't be addressing the number of cats.
Derek
Perhaps a better approach would be to require those who want to keep more than 2 cats to have to get a dispensation from the local council based on an inspection by the SPCA to determine whether the property/owner who wants more than two cats is properly equipped and informed about their responsibilities, that way you don't take away people's rights but you do impose a level of responsibility on those wanting more than 2 cats that does not already exist. It would be an immediate crime to have more than two cats without this dispensation and the same rule could be applied to dogs. It would cost a bit though.
Becky
Our cats found us. Our neighbours cat had kittens in the back yard then our dog got all but one & the mother abandoned the rest. We raised the survivor from a day old with a bottle. There is no way we would ever give him up. Our dogs bought us the second kitten, they backed her into a corner & we rescued her from their harmless barking. They love to bark at cats & people & don't even hurt flies. (The cats love to eat flies) Our 2 dogs & 2 cats are our family. Oh, thats 4 animals, whatever will the coucil do? The dogs are registerd, the cats were fixed/spay as soon as they were old enough. If the council tried to take them, we would put them out of sight & hold on tight. We have 5 adults in our house, thats not even one animal per person. If your going to be stupid & limit the number of animals, make it two per person earning a wage or something like that so that you know they can be properly cared for. Then we could get 10 cats!
Jane Wallace
I would prefer to Councils concentrate on not producing high density areas, which I believe is the foundation of many problems. Pets are just one of these. When we were a '1/4 acre pavlova paradise' this was not so much of an issue. Except for the left wing greenies who see cats as a pest and would like to see them banned full stop.
Adam
Restricting the number of pets? What's next, the number of cars or houses allowed?
For a democratic government - life in New Zealand is becoming more and more controlled. I accept the law is always evolving but the erosion of our general liberties is alarming. What used to be a personal decision is now a matter for the government to decide. The general feeling of frustration and angst is obvious with the polls reflecting NZ opinion on the current government. I have no pets, don't own a fast car and find that these constant amendments don't really effect me. The fact that there are ambiguous laws like; 'no unnecessary acceleration when driving' concern me and are part of the snowballing trend to restrict us as adults.Any more laws reducing our civil liberties I am against - if we didn't need it in the 70's we don't need it now. Maybe the Hollywood movie "V for Vendetta" wasn't so far off predicting our future?
Cat Lover
My partner and I have over 2 cats, and have done so for some time now, and if the WDC thinks for a moment that we will give up even one of them to comply with this by-law they are out of their minds. Our pets are members of our family, not something to be disgarded with because of the over reaction of the WDC. Registar them,yep sure not problem there, but to say "sorry no more than 2, get rid of the rest", well for some people thats like telling them they have too many children and have to get rid of a couple. It's just not going to happen.I cannot wait until the up coming regional elections when this council gets what it deserves. Voted out.
Shazza (Wellington)
Totally agree with Anne from Auckland - it is us (ie two-legged creatures) who are ruining the planet and landscape, not the four-legged ones. You only have to read the piece on today's Herald site about the poor dog that was starved and then hanged from a tree to feel sick about the capacity of humans for unspeakable acts of cruelty. What is wrong with some people? Only hope the karma law is true - what goes around comes around. Is it any wonder I like animals more than humans?!
Becks (ChCh)
Well my yard must really suck cos both my cats do their business. Mostly in the vege patch, which the veges don't mind. Realistically, a restriction on the number of cats that can be owned is a good idea, not for the poo factor, but it may aid in stopping irresponsible owners! My cats have a cat door and come and go as they please, but don't wander far or bug anyone, my youngest cat sleeps with me every night, the other usually sleeps on the couch. It all comes down to responsible ownership. Cats are a lot more willful than dogs too, as most cat owners would know!
Nigel (Parnell)
I think limiting pets is a great idea especially for people in South and West Auckland who own numerous un-fed dangerous dogs that just roam the streets looking to maul their next victim. These people should spend their dole money on buying food for their "whanau" and buying shoes for their kids who I often see walking to school in the middle of winter in their bare feet - hopeless. Yes limit their pet number to 0. These animals normally end up at Mangere's SPCA eventually.
Hazel
I think this is a great idea. It will make it much easier for the Council to confiscate cats from the 'crazy cat' people who keep dozens of cats but don't take good care of them. It's difficult to keep a house clean with so many cats, let alone feed them all. This makes it easier for these people to be dealt with as the Council will not have to prove in court that the owner was maltreating them.
Kost (Auckland)
Welcome to the nazi state. Another example of telling us how to live. No one is going to tell me how many pets I can own. Its none of their business. I wonder how many council members have more than 2 cats. Do we just kill a few or set them free.
Josie
What is NZ coming to, I cannot smack my child, I am only allowed 2 cats shall I go on.Just wondering how long it will take to be told I can't do something else!! I thought NZ was a free country.Yah right!
Anne (Auckland)
Has everyone seen the ad for toilet cleaner where the man can't bear to let anyone in the toilet. NZ is rapidly approaching the same attitude. Lovely country, you just can't really 'live' there. On the other hand, the self-righteousness of some of our citizens is sickening. Nothing has harmed the planet, flora and fauna, as much as human beings. I'm sure the cats, dogs, birds, and insects don't like us occupying their space either. The difference is, they try to get along with us. They love unconditionally and take all the garbage human beings dish out. Human beings, on the other hand, will harm, hurt, or even kill each other and any other life form and only to make a dollar or satisfy their own ego. Who is wiping out the natural balance of the planet? Not the cats! The best thing that could happen to society and the environment is that all the human beings leave. Then everything would be naturally pristine, there would be no expenses, no inconvenience to anyone, and no-one would need to inflict continuous harm on others in the course of their normal existence.
Thea (Papakura)
I agree there should be a limit to how many pets can be kept but think the owners should be licenced to make sure those pets are looked after properly.Cats allowed to roam cause a nuisance and should have a large outdoor cage for use when the owner is away from home or the animal is not in the house. If Aussie can achieve this why can't we?
Cal (Waitakere)
I can see why a council would like to bring a bylaw in but would it really do anything? I live out by the Waitakere Ranges with a reserve in my back yard. We have a few rental properties around and cats left by ex tenants have destroyed the reserve. It has got so bad where we live that we cannot leave doors or windows open at anytime all year round or even have a BBQ in summer due to the share amount of wild cats(these cats are dangerous and do attack). We now have a bush reserve behind us that once had Kiwi and other native birds but are lucky if we even have a sparrow left, even the ducks have moved out in the last few years. I won't even go into the noise of cats fighting at night and what the street looks like on rubbish day. Something needs to be done in NZ now to stop this problem, but restricting pets won't change nothing. The animals need to be fixed and renting tenant should be made to take there pets with them, not just leave them to fend for themselves. I have several pets myself and would not like to be restricted on how many i can have. I have to say lately the council have tried to make an effort to control it but the cats breed faster than the council can work.
karen
By far the biggest problem is the antisocial pet owner keeping breeding animals with no concern for the considerable fallout.Council would be better to make neutering compulsory unless you are a registered breeding facility.
Not bothered
What are we coming to? Limit this, limit that.. The only thing we need is common sense.. I bet that if this continues, we will have to clip all the wings of the bird life just because they shitted on your property or clothes or whatnot? This is insane
Paul Booth
It's only a good idea if it is going to be monitored and policed. How good an idea was it to chip pet dogs? The unchipped and unregistered are still attacking people. Why bother having any rules if no one sees they are followed
Rod
Making it 1 or 2 cats per household will be the same. Still we will have this cats' phooohh... problem and dead bird problem. Council should implement same rules for dogs. First, cat registration. Second is, cat should be on a leash all the time. An SPCA officer can be called if a cat is wondering around your property.
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