The New Zealand Department of Conservation is currently considering whether they should add "feral" cats to their Predator Free 2050 targeted species - a list of introduced species they plan to cull by 2050. Although the DOC had initially left cats off this kill list, some conservation groups have convinced the DOC to re-evaluate the decision.
Those who support adding cats to the Predator Free 2050 plan claim that cat predation on native wildlife threatens to cause, or contribute to, species extinctions. The reality is that, despite cats living on every continent except Antarctica, and on almost every island touched by human beings, only two cases of species extinction can be reliably traced to cats and the circumstances in both cases were extremely unique and involved NO effort to control the cat populations through sterilization.
In addition to the moral argument that it is cruel to kill some animals to spare others, especially when the targeted predatory animal only exists in the environment due to decades or human negligence, the New Zealand DOC must be reminded of past examples of predator culling that show it costs more than sterilization campaigns and often leads to new, unintended ecological problems.
If feral cat sterilization is implemented on a wide scale across New Zealand, it will drastically decrease the nation's feral cat population. By 2050, it is conceivable that no new cats will be born outdoors, while the remaining, sterilized cats will all soon after pass away naturally, giving the ecosystems of which they are currently a part the chance to adjust properly to their disappearance.
Please sign this petition for the Director General of the NZ Department of Conservation to show your support for a country-wide cat sterilization program instead of culling.
