NZFF

Marsbar Here puss , have someones eyes here to scratch out !

Gareth Morgan wants cats eradicated
NewstalkZB | 08:04am Tue 22 Jan 2013

A leading economist is calling for our furry felines to be wiped out.

Gareth Morgan has set up a website - Cats to Go - in a campaign to eradicate domestic cats.

His reasoning is that they're wiping out New Zealand's native birds, and are as much of a predator as stoats.

SPCA chief executive Bob Kerridge says it's a bit radical and over the top, and questioned the validity of Mr Morgan's research.

He says their surveys show fewer than half of New Zealand's domestic cats kill other animals.

[quote
He says their surveys show fewer than half of New Zealand's domestic cats kill other animals.
[/quote]

Now that could be quite a frightening statistic on its own.....how many hundreds of thousands of killers would that leave us with...?

Mr Morgan is a very shrewd and calculating man. I can't imagine for one moment that he would be expecting legislation to be rushed in to
commit moggie genocide, but more likely he is trying to create some awareness of what he sees to be a problem. To listen to the bleating
on my morning radio, he has already managed this. Wait till tonights news on TV for the follow up.

Aah! that's why his football team lost 7-0 - they must all be cat-lovers

Bazza wrote:

QUOTE (Bazza @ Jan 22 2013,10:29 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mr Morgan is a very shrewd and calculating man. I can't imagine for one moment that he would be expecting legislation to be rushed in to
commit moggie genocide, but more likely he is trying to create some awareness of what he sees to be a problem. To listen to the bleating
on my morning radio, he has already managed this.

That's a good point , possible reason for the nearly 50% margin is simply people dump cats , a lot of people cannot look after themselves or there own without adding animal to the list without feeding - so course mister moggie is on his way out for dinner tonight .

steelsporran wrote:

QUOTE (steelsporran @ Jan 22 2013,11:22 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Aah! that's why his football team lost 7-0 - they must all be cat-lovers

What's a football team ... they don't eat either

While "caticide" is not the answer, it DOES raise a point that has needed to be talked about for a while now. Which is to do with ALL domestic pets, especially cats, and how we have a large number of them - and a proportion of them either aren't cared for properly, or are breeding too quickly for the size of our population / environment. However, given how lazy a number of NZers appear to be about this, I think it highly unlikely that anything more than "deck chair re-arranging" will take place. BTW, I speak about this as someone who grew up with dogs living in the house as "pets", and who "owns" (serves?) birds and a cat (at the moment: anyone want a 2 month old black cat? Free to a loving home). So, I'm not a cat, dog or pet hater. But I do believe that if people are going to have "pets", they need to take on the responsibility seriously, and be ready to commit to at least 10-15 years of "ownership", with all the care, love and expense that incurs. It's actually similar to having children, to a point.

IslandBoy77 wrote:

QUOTE (IslandBoy77 @ Jan 22 2013,8:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

While "caticide" is not the answer, it DOES raise a point that has needed to be talked about for a while now. Which is to do with ALL domestic pets, especially cats, and how we have a large number of them - and a proportion of them either aren't cared for properly, or are breeding too quickly for the size of our population / environment. However, given how lazy a number of NZers appear to be about this, I think it highly unlikely that anything more than "deck chair re-arranging" will take place. BTW, I speak about this as someone who grew up with dogs living in the house as "pets", and who "owns" (serves?) birds and a cat (at the moment: anyone want a 2 month old black cat? Free to a loving home). So, I'm not a cat, dog or pet hater. But I do believe that if people are going to have "pets", they need to take on the responsibility seriously, and be ready to commit to at least 10-15 years of "ownership", with all the care, love and expense that incurs. It's actually similar to having children, to a point.

Send it to cooked cat productions http://www.youtube.com/user/ACookedCatProduction funny take on man vs wild. but i am sure they would take Cats.

Yob wrote:

QUOTE (Yob @ Jan 22 2013,12:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Send it to cooked cat productions.............. funny take on man vs wild. but i am sure they would take Cats.

Now i wonder if that happened to Gareth Morgan .. seems to have had the same brain fade since his Antarctic visit ... now were was that good old Aussie Croc .. or the dingo that could have .. now that would have been COOL as CATS!

i am sure that crocs arnt in all aussie water ways.

Ian Warren wrote:

QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Jan 22 2013,9:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Marsbar Here puss , have someones eyes here to scratch out !

Gareth Morgan has set up a website - Cats to Go - in a campaign to eradicate domestic cats.

That sounds like some sort of take-away joint; the sort of place that Marsbar could go to so he could be adopted by a loving, caring family is he ever got sick of you Ian.

What Mr Gareth? Aaahhh, sorry, you're an "economist"...That explains it... No emotions, just numbers, and statistics...

Well, Mr Gareth, let me guess...you've had a scary childhood experience with a cat, and see a potential opportunity for a revenge now, don't you? I'll have to straighten it up for you, it's not the cats it's the people! (100% agree with IslandBoy's reply).

C'mon now Mr Gareth, did you really think for a second that this one could go through? God save you from the angry crowd of wifes and grannies bro!!! Oh, I'll be there too, I happen to have one

Dan

PS: Good luck with the rat invasion once the cats are gone....

gojozoom wrote:

QUOTE (gojozoom @ Jan 22 2013,3:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

C'mon now Mr Gareth, did you really think for a second that this one could go through? God save you from the angry crowd of wifes and grannies bro!!! Oh, I'll be there too, I happen to have one

Dan , Me to and Mars as well , .. be interesting to hear whats said on TV3 tonight .. I credited the guy but now lost any or my respect, least at the mo

scaber wrote:

QUOTE (scaber @ Jan 22 2013,1:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

the sort of place that Marsbar could go to so he could be adopted by a loving, caring family is he ever got sick of you Ian.

Yip .. nice thing they no were home really is

Yob wrote:

QUOTE (Yob @ Jan 22 2013,1:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i am sure that crocs arnt in all aussie water ways.

So were can we thro Mister Gareth ... Alligators .. surely you have some of those

Cats are vicious, cruel, merciless killers.

My two moggies will hunt down anything that runs, flies, or swims... play with it 'til it stops moving, then maybe eat a bit of it.
Or not. Maybe have a little sleep.

If cats looked like cane toads, say, Mr. Morgan's campaign would be assured.

How much do cats actually kill ?

Its just feral cats that are the major issue here they are a problem if they get loose in Native bush as birds like the Kiwi are easy for them to hunt and kill. IMO they may wind up with a similar situation to dogs with cats chipped etc rather than wiping them all out which sounds crazy.

herd some guys on the radio talking about this yesterday.. I think they were talking about slowly getting rid of them so i guess stopping them from reproducing or something. not going around killing them all haha. I think Mr DOC and their 1080 is the biggest threat to anything in nz though.....

[quote IMO they may wind up with a similar situation to dogs with cats chipped etc rather than wiping them all out which sounds crazy.
[/quote]

From my reading of the data on his Web Site, no-one is suggesting wiping them out...the suggestion was that people should consider not replacing
them as they die naturally. Personally I think that's a great idea. I got stuck with one a while back when a rellie went to Oz, but when it passed
on I planted it under an oak sapling and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

There is a dirty, urinating, defecating mongrel living somewhere near me, that is only alive today because I am a kind hearted, gentle soul, and don't
want trouble with the Police...(and it's faster on its feet than I am.)

Bazza (Gareth Morgan supporter.)

I'm for both cat's and dog's being chipped with fines if you don't,...my ex in Helensville refuses to get her cats speyed and so they keep breeding ..she ends up with literally 8-10 cats that "she cant afford to get them all speyed" so again they keep breeding and multiplying and running away into the surrounding farmland..where I hunt deer...and now feral cats. She hates me now because I give great joy in telling her I am likely shooting alot of her animals and I've personally shot around 2 doz cats or so last year , but thats not even making a scratch in the population of wild cats,..they kill an alarming amount of native species of birds,...but so do hedgehogs..,cute prickly little creatures but also destructive to our natives so they get the same treatment when I see them...

Im owned by 2 mogs (Port and starboard ....star for short) both male, minus a few bits. Love them to bits despite them being ignorant , arrogant ,demanding .....and expensive to fix when something goes wrong.

Ive had many "gifts" from them in the past , much to the horror of the flatmates ..... but i find it hard to punish natural instincts . My own fault to a degree, because i feed the birds ..... so before i feed the feathered ones i fire the garden hose into all the likely sniper positions , and i haven't had a "body" for months ..... thats not to say their hunting else where.

Its a hard one all right , and owners should be more responsible ....but bottom line is , your really dealing with a very independent natural born killer , as i said, its a hard one.

Splitpin wrote:

QUOTE (Splitpin @ Jan 23 2013,10:08 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

so before i feed the feathered ones i fire the garden hose into all the likely sniper positions , and i haven't had a "body" for months ..... thats not to say their hunting else where.

Just as well I'd just finished by late-morning cuppa, or it would've been firing out my nostrils! "Sniper positions" Brilliant! Also very true. Since owning 2 pigeons for the last 2 years, my wife and I have come to like birds more than cats or dogs. But generally, we just like all animals - even bugs. I often joke that we have the luckiest spiders on the planet, because unlike most people, we never swat them. If they're in the house, I just scoop them up & relocate them outside. The only insects that get swatted are flies & mossies, but if I can catch a fly I will "redirect" it outside (I've got pretty good, too ) Cockroaches get luck of the draw: if my wife finds one at night, it gets the fly swat. If I find one, it gets the catapult off the top deck into the ether.

Since being landed with a cat for the last month, we've become "re-acquainted" with all the reasons we didn't replace our last one. Apart from having to have eyes in the back of my head to stop him from clawing things (which is actually working out pretty well, thanks to Mr. Spray-bottle .. a friend of Mr. Tricorder for all you Trekkies... ), we are sure to keep him well away from our local "wild" bird population, regardless of how "garden variety" they are. There are already 5 cats in the area, and they squabble over who gets to pee on our front door 2 or 3 times a week on average: that's SO much fun to clean up when one is in a rush in the morning: not. But in regards to the birds, while our 2 pigeons are caged (in large parrot cages, btw), the local feathered friends have no such fortifications. Since I work from home I get to watch the birds quite a bit: it's amazing how intelligent, social and just downright interesting they are to watch - far more so than I expected before we owned our pigeons and developed an interest in birds. Even Sparrows, common and "boring" as they might seem, are quite fun little creatures to watch - when they're not yelling at each other at the top of their little lungs outside my window!

Anyway, as many have noted, we are at that point where general laziness and poor animal husbandry of cats has got well out of hand. If dogs were allowed to roam as freely as cats, there would be an uproar. True, dogs are usually bigger and potentially far more dangerous, but I'm pretty sure the cat population is at least 2-3 times that of the dog one, and their "wandering willboroughy" ways still causes all manner of mayhem that we simply put up with "because they're cats and doing what cats do". That last statement might be true - including their propensity to torment and play with their meals, often not even eating what they catch, and being very fond of just plain "vandalism" - it's down to us as the "adults" to keep cats in check. Humans domesticated cats, therefore it's our responsibility to care for them and "guide" their habits / ways as best we can. In the meantime, I seriously need to find a home for "Tigger", so if anyone knows someone in the wider Hawke's Bay area (as far north as Wairoa, and as far south as Dannevirke), I REALLY need to get him off my hands and into a home who wants a cat. I might even be willing to drive half way to the person's home for the drop-off. Any cat toys, litter tray & food we have at the time will be given away free also.

Adrian Brausch wrote:

QUOTE (Adrian Brausch @ Jan 23 2013,9:36 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm for both cat's and dog's being chipped with fines if you don't,...my ex in Helensville refuses to get her cats speyed and so they keep breeding ..she ends up with literally 8-10 cats that "she cant afford to get them all speyed"

Both Marsbar and LF were strays , both went to the vet for a check and speyed after they were not interested in leaving here .. it is the logical and common sence thing to do ... if they required a chip yes indeed ... people loose there cats maybe a good way to track them after disasters for example .

SUBS17 wrote:

QUOTE (SUBS17 @ Jan 23 2013,8:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Its just feral cats that are the major issue here they are a problem if they get loose in Native bush as birds like the Kiwi are easy for them to hunt and kill. IMO they may wind up with a similar situation to dogs with cats chipped etc rather than wiping them all out which sounds crazy.

YIP that is the major problem ... people cannot look after there animals , they then go hungry go wild causing the problem .

These people should chipped as well ! and be monitored ....