Abstract
Simple SummaryFree-roaming cats in New Zealand include companion, stray, and feral cats, mostly defined based on their relationship with people. As such, the different policy mechanisms in New Zealand related to addressing the impacts of free-roaming cats reflect these different types of relationships. In this paper, we review the current laws and related regulations, codes, plans, and local bylaws related to cat management and identify the implications they have on cat welfare. Currently, there is no national law for cat management in New Zealand; however, we suggest that there is reason to create national legislation to ensure that cat management is humane and consistent across New Zealand.A lack of national legislation for cat management in New Zealand poses challenges for ensuring that practices are consistently humane and effective. In this paper, we review the current cat management policies in New Zealand and the implications they have on the welfare of free-roaming cats (from here on, referred to as ‘cats’). Our review demonstrates that there are multiple policy mechanisms used to manage cats in New Zealand for a variety of reasons, including animal welfare, pest management, and nuisance, and that these different policies have both positive and negative implications for cat welfare. We provide context pertaining to New Zealanders’ acceptance of current or future laws and regulations and compare the New Zealand policy landscape with other countries, with a particular emphasis on Australia, to identify potential directions and outcomes of increased regulation. We discuss the future of the regulatory environment in New Zealand, including the need to better understand the impact of policies on cats, people, and other animals in urban, rural, and wild spaces. We further discuss the need to better understand the cat–human relationship for future policy decisions and offer a solution based on national cat legislation.
Highlights
The welfare of free-roaming cats in New Zealand and elsewhere is impacted by human interactions, including those driven by laws and regulations
These three categories of cats are contingent on the human–cat relationship, with, at one extreme, companion cats being entirely dependent on humans to meet their needs and, at the other end, feral cats, by definition, having none of their needs met by humans, with stray cats having many of their needs indirectly supplied by humans [2]
The laws in New Zealand that impact feral cat welfare fall into two broad categories: those that enable the control of feral cats as pests, and those that protect a feral cat from unnecessary suffering
Summary
The welfare of free-roaming cats in New Zealand and elsewhere is impacted by human interactions, including those driven by laws and regulations. Zealand and the implications these policies have on the welfare of free-roaming cats (from here on, referred to ‘cats’). Many of these policies have implications for other outcomes, such as protecting wildlife and pastoral animals, and reducing nuisance. We discuss the future of the regulatory environment in New Zealand, including the need to better understand the impact of policies on cats, people, and other animals in urban, rural, and wild spaces. We further discuss the need to better understand the cat–human relationship for future regulations and offer a solution based on national cat legislation
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