The New Zealand Cat Foundation says the issue is becoming a test for candidates ahead of the 7 November election, as two more cat-hunting competitions are promoted for this month
The New Zealand Cat Foundation, a registered charity, has written formally to the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and the Department of Conservation (DOC), warning that current government guidance on “feral” and “unwanted” cats cannot reliably distinguish a feral cat from a companion, stray, colony or stud cat, and is fuelling a rapid rise in the trapping, shooting and killing of cats that are not feral at all.
The New Zealand Cat Foundation's letters, supported by a detailed technical statement on identification and firearms safety, argue that the guidance both agencies rely on breaches the Firearms Safety Code's core rule to “identify your target beyond all doubt” before a shot is fired. DOC's own identification guide, released under the Official Information Act (OIAD-5950), identifies feral cats by traits, coat colour, lack of a collar, behaviour when caged, that, on the document's own wording, apply equally to companion cats.
The concern is not theoretical. The publicly promoted North Canterbury (Hurunui) cat hunting competition has killed well over 1,000 cats over the years it has run, with over 400 in its most recent event alone, described by some media outlets as a record toll, and now the subject of legal action by animal welfare groups. Cats are checked for a microchip only after being shot and frozen, rather than identified before a shot is taken. Two further competitions, “The Great Mid Canterbury Critter Competition” and “Vermin Sermon” in Waihaorunga, are promoted for the same weekend this September, one explicitly marketed to children, the other as a family day.
The New Zealand Cat Foundation says it has also received reports of companion cats being stolen from their own properties, companion cats being killed under the guise of feral, and missing cat statistics grossly rise within the areas of these events and the constant vilification of cats generally is creating serious welfare issues and killing of companion/community cats.
“Cats now effectively have a bounty on their heads. We have seen people steal companion cats from their own homes and properties to enter them into these competitions. This isn't pest control — companion, stray and displaced cats are being killed alongside genuinely feral ones, and current government guidance does not show the difference before the trigger is pulled.”
— Anne Batley Burton, Founder and Chair, The New Zealand Cat Foundation
The New Zealand Cat Foundation says event-style hunting and trapping operates with no standard oversight, significantly increasing the risk of prolonged suffering, wounding, or non-humane disposal, and that it is practically impossible for participants, particularly children, to reliably distinguish an un-microchipped, free-roaming companion or colony cat from a genuinely feral animal before a shot is taken. It also points to a pattern well recognised in pest management generally: sporadic, competition-driven culling does not achieve lasting population control, since survivors continue breeding and other animals move into the vacated area. What cash-incentivised culling reliably produces instead, The New Zealand Cat Foundation says, is widespread hostility toward cats as a species, rewarded by prize money rather than any genuine, targeted pest management outcome, and it is companion cats that are consistently among the easiest targets, precisely because they trust humans and approach rather than flee, unlike a genuinely feral animal that avoids human contact altogether.
The New Zealand Cat Foundation is calling on MPI and DOC, and on councillors and candidates nationwide, to commit to three specific reforms: a ban on cash-prize killing competitions that place a bounty on domestic or invasive species; funding for humane, professionally managed alternatives such as Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), greater support to rescues already doing wonderful work throughout New Zealand; and an end to backyard and public trapping and killing of cats, with feral cat control carried out only by licensed, certified pest control professionals and confined to genuinely wild “deep bush” areas MPI and DOC themselves say feral cat control should be confined to, never in urban, lifestyle-block or semi-rural areas.
With the general election on 7 November approaching, The New Zealand Cat Foundation is writing to councillors and election candidates across Canterbury, Otago, Nelson and Marlborough, asking them to commit to these reforms. A public sign-on campaign inviting New Zealanders to add their names in support of the call has also been launched.
Copies of The New Zealand Cat Foundation's letters to MPI and DOC, and the supporting technical statement, are available on request.
About The New Zealand Cat Foundation
The New Zealand Cat Foundation is a registered charity dedicated to the welfare of stray and abandoned cats throughout New Zealand. Its work includes desexing, vaccinating, microchipping and rehoming cats wherever possible, and providing lifelong care in a predator-free environment for those who cannot be rehomed. It also cares for and re-homes cats that have been surrendered due to unforeseen circumstances such as death of an owner and performs a very important community service.
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