Getting the Word Out

stuff.co.nz photo

At the end of 2019 and into the beginning of 2020 there seemed to be story after story about cats in the New Zealand media.  Cats being injured (abusively or by accident), birds being killed, neighbourhood disputes, or housing developments requiring cat bans, there was no end to the variety of topics but one thing was constant - the utter ignorance about cat containment options.

If mentioned at all, the story might mention cat curfews (keeping cats indoors at night) or perhaps make the written equivalent of a shoulder shrug "well, there's no way to stop cats roaming".  The comments section usually went to the worst kind of tribalism; childish name calling, and generally derogatory statements on both sides.

One article discussing a neighbourhood dispute (which turned ugly) was picked up by the breakfast tv show, and they even invited a local celebrity vet* to discuss.  Again, the same old nonsense came out.  I was really disappointed that the vet didn't bring up containment options.

We've actually come a ways since I fenced my property, and I certainly was not the first person in NZ to make a catio or use cat fencing. The SPCA has created a resource based on the Sth Australian "Good Cats Play at Home", and there are now commercial cat fencing operators in NZ.

However, we still have a long way to go - Councils and developers aren't thinking about the requirements for cat fencing in their bylaws, building rules or covenants, bird and environmental groups, and even the cat\no-cat tribes are still more interested in 'being right' than achieving solutions.

So, rather than just roll my eyes again, I wrote a brief email to the journo who wrote the article just pointing out that the statements made in the article were incorrect, and providing a couple of links to resources. I was just hoping that they might take 2 minutes to make sure that the next story included some better information, but I got a reply asking if I would be interested in showing my fencing.

*I also wrote to both the Breakfast program and the vet involved and got no response. 

I figured it might actually get the word out there that there are options, it's not expensive, and maybe we can have a more informed discussion.  I certainly am not expecting that everyone will go off and do their own yards, but I do hope more people who want to be constructive about cat welfare AND environmental wellbeing will be able to have their voices heard.

I also hope that some of the people on both sides who have been so divisive so far will amend their views, and in the case of some organisations, the information on their websites.

The Stuff Story

For the record, I've also written to:

• The Companion Animal Council - who wrote back with an encouraging response that they will look at updating their website in the future, as well as looking to update the NZ Companion Animal Register site
• Forest & Bird - asking that they update their rather bumptious 'fact sheet' to give people info on containment - no response.