by Neil Sanderson | Sep 7, 2016 | Hostile Neighbours, Shooting Cats
It’s great to see that Zep, the cat shot with an arrow a few days ago, seems to be recovering (see video). But the North Taranaki SPCA says another cat was shot with a rifle in the same area about a week ago, and died. It is not known whether the two attacks on...
by Neil Sanderson | Sep 5, 2016 | Cat Roaming, Hostile Neighbours, Shooting Cats
I hate writing about stuff like this, but honest to goodness there are some maniacs living among us. And cat owners are going to have to deal with that sad fact. A cat belonging to a family in the Taranaki town of Inglewood struggled home with an arrow through the top...
by Neil Sanderson | Aug 31, 2016 | Cat Roaming
The secret and dangerous lives of wandering cats have been revealed by a cat tracking project in the Lithgow Local Government Area of the Australian state of New South Wales. The findings were published in June. The aim of the project was to educate cat owners and...
by Neil Sanderson | Aug 24, 2016 | Cat Roaming, Cat Safety, Wildlife Protection
The current edition of the news magazine New Zealand Listener has a cover story about the impact of free-roaming domestic cats on native birds. The article also refers to the dangers that roaming cats face: Victoria University research by Wayne Linklater and...
by Neil Sanderson | Aug 16, 2016 | Exercise, Leash Training
At Cat Containment Systems we believe that cats should be non-roaming, but that doesn’t mean they should never leave home. You may want to take your cat in a carrying cage when you travel or just to visit the vet. But cats also enjoy walking. The key is make...
by Neil Sanderson | Aug 4, 2016 | Cat Restrictions, Cat Roaming
After considerable acrimony, Wellington Council’s environment committee has voted to make cat microchipping compulsory. The amendments to the current animal bylaw are: all domestic cats over the age of 12 weeks must be microchipped and registered with NZCAR (New...
by Neil Sanderson | Aug 2, 2016 | Cat Roaming, Cat Safety, Dog Attacks
Two roaming dogs in Napier have killed sheep and are suspected of killing cats too. Richard Taylor told Hawke’s Bay Today his 14-year-old chocolate Burmese cat Boi Boi had been missing since the afternoon the dogs got loose. “I can’t prove my cat was...
by Neil Sanderson | Jul 31, 2016 | Cat Roaming, Wildlife Protection
This new book looks interesting, and even opens with a New Zealand story. From the publisher’s website: Peter P Marra & Chris Santella Princeton University Press Hardcover | September 2016 In 1894, a lighthouse keeper named David Lyall arrived on Stephens...
by Neil Sanderson | Jul 29, 2016 | Cat Restrictions, Cat Roaming
All day long I’ve been listening to Radio New Zealand repeating the same report about Wellington’s decision not to restrict cat ownership, asserting that the issue has “divided conservationists and cat fanciers”. Even John Campbell repeated the...
by Neil Sanderson | Jul 29, 2016 | Cat Restrictions, Cat Safety, Hostile Neighbours, Leg-Hold Traps
I was reading a story online about a roaming cat that got its paw stuck in a leg-hold trap set by a neighbour. This case was in the Canadian city of Regina – although we’ve certainly had similar occurrences here in New Zealand recently. Something else that...
