New Zealand has announced plans to eradicate feral cats by 2050, as part of efforts to protect the country’s biodiversity.
Speaking to Radio New Zealand on Thursday, conservation minister Tama Potaka said that feral cats are “stone cold killers” and would be added to the country’s Predator Free 2050 list, which aims to eradicate those animals that have a negative impact on species such as birds, bats, lizards and insects.
Cats had previously been excluded from the list, which includes species such as stoats, ferrets, weasels, rats and possums, but Potaka used the interview to announce a U-turn.
Cats must only be indoor pets. We can easily separate pet mice and rats from their feral counterparts and we need to do the same to cats. And I am a cat person big time.
Same.
Love cats.
Keep them in doors.
Outdoor cats and feral cats are walking, prowling ecological disasters.
+1 for indoor only cats. Those cunts are ruthless - they can’t not murder wild animals and we’ve got a lot of native birds here so keep em indoors.
If you care about cats and/or if you care about the environment, you keep your pet cats indoors. Simple as.
A lot of reactionary, super-sensitive, chronically online children in this post wailing into the void because they’re imagining some kind of housecat Auschwitz.
You can’t claim to care about the environment and be fine with feral cats eliminating some of the most unique biodiversity on the planet. You midwit pussies out there have to make a choice.
I wish “middlebrow dismissal” had become a more common term. It basically means a knee-jerk rejection of an idea without seriously engaging or investigating it. A “cache dump of prejudices” rather than argument.
This thread is absolutely filled with people who think they know better than kiwi conservationists that have studied and discussed this topic in depth.
Most people didn’t read the story, and don’t actually care, they are just feeling emotions and need to vomit it out. Even if they did read the story, most people don’t really understand things like ecology anyway so it’s unlikely to change their emotional reactions.
It’s still weird to dismiss the insane destructive power of the domestic shorthair. Killing is practically their only pastime
The “baby-fication” of pets is an incredibly damaging culture. People don’t see dogs and cats for what they are and it causes problems in the lives of animals and humans alike.
Feral cats cause the ultimate destruction to local wildlife. They are so common, one of the worst invasive species. And New Zealand’s an island with precious endemic wildlife not found anywhere else in the world. So yeah - it’s about time! Bravo NZ for doing the right thing.
Edit: They need to do this in Hawaii too!
Absolutely. Those cats are destroying boobies. Unforgivable.
All domestic cats should be fully indoor cats. Any domestic cats found outdoors should be killed. Nasty little disease spreading song bird killers.
Not sure why this is such a controversial take. House cats should indeed not be outside, unless they are on a leash.
Because people have an extreme case of the feels for cats and judge their morals purely based on what’s cute, and are fine with the deaths of cows and other animals but not pets. A disturbing amount of people care about the fully arbitrary distinction between pet and animal
Best summary of thread
It’s unfortunately far more than just birds. They kill billions of reptiles, fish, amphibians, and mammals each year. Not to mention their toxoplasmosis has been found in ocean otters (just an example of something far removed from the daily goings of a cat) and in the soil and ground water, as well as our foods. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7033973/
Very true.
Cats have the exact same right to bring extinction to this world as we do.
The indigenous species have priority to exist.
The dairy industry is significantly more damaging to NZ’s ecology than some feral cats. I’m not saying it shouldn’t be addressed, but there are measures already in place. It’s important to keep perspective and not be distracted by media.
It’s possible to do two things at a time. Cats and dairy are not mutually exclusive.
I find it kind of amazing that humans will constantly look outwardly as if everything that is happening isn’t a direct result of their own failures as nature’s caretakers. Yes, let’s kill the cats because of all the havoc they’re wreaking on our biodiversity but let’s also ignore all the havoc that we ourselves continue to wreak. Let’s applaud ourselves for caring so much about the environment by slaughtering one of man’s two best friends. Irresponsible cat owners aside, there are ways that (key phrase here) cost money that involve a well-known acronym, TNR to combat feral cat populations. They can be re-homed or put aboard ships to tackle rodent problems at sea and become resident sailor cats. There are better ways than blindly dropping poison fucking sausage and installing automatic poison spray machines around town. As if that won’t result in any accidental deaths of spayed neighborhood outdoor cats with chips, collars, and loving families. This thread has absolutely lost the plot if everyone agrees with the methods put forth in the article. I can assure you, this is some grade A bs.
There are not cheaper ways, though. It’s a monumental task and if it is done incompletely, it was pointless to even undertake.
Most feral animals can’t just be “re-homed”. Cats don’t need humans to be happy and to thrive. They don’t need a house. They don’t need a ship. The most we should do for them is give them a cat island (where they would likely turn cannibal and start consuming each other within a generation).
Have you ever met a truley feral cat they cannot be rehomed.
Yes, let’s kill the cats because of all the havoc they’re wreaking on our biodiversity but let’s also ignore all the havoc that we ourselves continue to wreak.
So because humans do bad things, we should allow bad thing to continue to happen.
I would say you should get directly involved, I am sure there are plenty of groups trying to do exactly what you say which is raise money for alternative solutions, but I kind of have the feeling you’re not going to.
whats up with all the cat hating nazi’s here ?
Funnily enough I just got recommended to rewatch this old vid from tom scott
Maybe it’s the cadence or the accent but I cannot process anything he is saying
We are the extinction event
I feel so terrible
Are you a feral cat?
No, probably just someone with empathy who recognizes the shit situation humans created and how it’s going to play out in the lives of New Zealand’s cats.
and yet inexplicably isn’t vegan
Not sure if it’s a cat, but definitely feral.
Too bad they ain’t much good eatin.
Never had cat, but it can’t be that bad, can it? Guessing it’s tougher meat than we’re accustomed to, but I’d guess it’d still make passable stew meat. Or play up the toughness and make it into jerky.
Might as well get some usage out of them.
General rule of thumb is “don’t eat things that eat things”. Obviously, there are exceptions for survival cases, but the range of pathogens, parasites, and prions one can contract from eating a predator is much, much wider than that from eating vegetarian animals.
Huh. TIL. I always just assumed it was a taste/texture/difficult-livestock-to-manage kind of situation. I wonder if we could offset its potential to carry pathogens by like letting it cure up in a brine or something before cooking it.
Had a friend from Hong Kong tell cats don’t taste good but dogs do. I took his word for it.
Brings back the horrific scene I came across at 14 of a cat arm in a pot.
Umm feed them. Then they’re not feral, their babies.
I am a big fan of cats. However, if they live outside, they are feral. And they should not be allowed to keep living outside.
My preferred solution would be for people to take them in and feed them, but you definitely should not be feeding them while they are still living outside. Outdoor cats cause a lot of destruction to the ecosystem by overhunting small animals such as songbirds, even to the point of extinction.
Profoundly disconnected from reality moment
Then they start hunting for sports.
Cats are an invasive species in NZ, which has a lot more small critters living on the ground because there are no native predators to them.
Cats are invasive everywhere. Start killing every stray and then maybe cat lovers will be more responsible.
Now that’s quite a hot take. Various Felines are native to almost every part of the world, except, i.e. NZ.
The overpopulation is the issue. Not their existance.
Not talking about actual wild felines but domestic cats that are allowed to be out doors by their owners or abandoned to live out doors. Their simple existence out doors is the issue.
Do us all a favor and go try to hug a feral cat.
yes but leave it to politicians to do everything in the worst possible way
Yeah, well fed house cats never bring home dead mice and birds.
🤦♂️
If the cat is a strictly indoor cat and is bringing you dead mice and birds, you may have a problem with mice and birds in your house.
If the cat is a strictly indoor cat
Well… yeah. Nowhere near the point, but you said a thing that was true.
I keep mine indoors… and our city sterilizes feral cats and lets them go again if they cannot be adopted timely
A much humane approach that limits the harm a cat could do in the wild
That’s not harm reduction. Letting then go is ecocide. And it isn’t even humane. Feral cats are feral, they can’t be adopted. Better to humanely put them down.
they are not even been added to the kill list for 25 more years… it’s either not that urgent or this is just virtue signaling from politicians
ps: x for doubt on any “humanely” thing proposed by politicians
Why just not eat them?
Darkness
Humanity hungers
Humanity is overrated
Honestly, cat is just pretty gross. Did not like at all, even before I knew what it was. Incredibly greasy, very unpleasantly gamey, weirdly stringy, do not recommend.
I’ve never had cat, but have heard that mountain lion is really good. Supposedly, during WWII, lots of house cat was eaten in the UK and was called roof rabbit.
What kind of cat did you have and what were the circumstances?
What kind of cat did you have and what were the circumstances?
“Cat” (it was cooked, I assume it was a shorthair since there were ample feral shorthairs around), and it was part of a banquet-thing I was at while visiting friends - except sea cucumber (which is revolting it has the exact taste and texture of a loogie) the rest of the food was very good!
(edit: I am not sure british wartime cooking is a great metric to base “Tastes-Goodness” off of)
I’ve had raccoon, which was terrible. Never had the chance to try cat.
Sea cucumber is supposed to be a delicacy, but never had it. Sea urchin is amazing in my experience, but someone here on Lemmy said it was awful. It may be a preparation or freshness issue. I’d like to try sea cucumber.
Never had raccoon, have had opossum and it was… passable. Not something I’d seek out but not bad in a stew.
I can see not liking sea urchin, personally I’m not big on it but it’s not, like, bad bad. Just not my thing.
I’ve had sea cucumber several times and no, man, I encourage you to try it just so that you can share my pain. Cat was deeply eeh, don’t recommend, but sea cucumber is “I have dreams about how bad it is” levels of bad - and whats worse, people really do claim it’s a delicacy! So you can’t just duck under the table and hoark it all out onto your shoes without being rude.
I’d rather snort lines of raw durian than eat sea cucumber again. Seriously if you ever get a chance go for it, it’s spectacularly horrible. You gotta try it.
That sounds terrible. I’ll definitely give it a try.
My grandma use to sell cat meat saying it was rabbit and people liked it back then
Save the kiwis!
