Federated Farmers is calling for councils to do more to help farmers deal with feral cats to curb their “devastating” effect on native species and livestock.
In Gisborne, district council callouts to stray cat incidents have increased annually for the past three years.
Federated Farmers pest management spokesman Richard McIntyre said feral cats, estimated to be on 14% of East Coast farms, pose significant biosecurity and biodiversity risks.
East Coast farmers cull seven cats per property per year on average.
He said the problem was made worse by people dumping kittens and cats in rural areas, or feeding feral cat colonies in peri-urban areas.
“Not only do [feral cats] have a devastating effect on native species, but they spread the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis disease, which can cause abortions and other problems in livestock, particularly sheep, leading to economic losses for farmers,” McIntyre said.
Wild cats tend to be fitter and faster than pet cats, making them difficult to control.
Federated Farmers’ stance is that all feral cats should be culled humanely.
“We’d like to see councils providing more resources to help farmers and communities do that.”
Gisborne district councillor and former farmer Rob Telfer said feral cats were a long-standing issue.
“When we first bought our farm, we had a hell of a problem with them because they cleaned all the chooks out,” Telfer said.
Companion Animals New Zealand had also urged local councils and government bodies to mandate microchipping, registration, and desexing of companion animals.
In 2023, Campaign Animals New Zealand submitted to Gisborne District Council’s review of an animal bylaw, requesting the council make microchipping and desexing of cats mandatory.
However, Telfer said this type of regulation could potentially increase council costs without reducing stray and wild cat populations.
“It’s people’s behaviour that has to change.
“How do you tell someone that their cat has to be desexed if they may specifically want to breed from it?” he said.
“By regulating, you normally target the honest people, which was shown with the microchipping of dogs.”
He said microchipping dogs had been a “huge big cost”, yet half the dogs the council targeted were not microchipped.
Council strategic planning manager Charlotte Knight said while the council held bylaw-making powers to regulate keeping animals, there was no national legal framework which required desexing or microchipping cats.
“The Animal Welfare Act 1999 also does not provide councils with authority to mandate these measures.”
Implementing and enforcing such measures at a local level would require significant investment in compliance and legislative clarity from central government, she said.
“Council continues to monitor developments in this space and supports national discussions that aim to deliver co-ordinated and resourced solutions.”
Council animal control team leader Ross Hannam said the council responded to wild cat-related callouts on a sporadic basis, typically in response to public concerns.
The council website says it can lend a trap for stray cats causing problems on a residential property in some urban areas, or help with the removal and destruction of the cat.
Over the past four years, the council recorded 115 incidents, which cost between $17,250-$25,875.
“The average cost per incident generally ranges between $150 and $225, depending on factors such as location, accessibility and whether additional resources or visits are required.”
The number of incidents had gradually increased over the years, from 29 reported incidents in 2022 to 42 in 2024.
There have been 13 incidents reported this year.
The majority of callouts are within the Gisborne city limits, with occasional callouts to surrounding areas.
Council biosecurity team leader Phillip Karaitiana said the council’s biosecurity team undertook seasonal possum night-shooting programmes across farmland, and any feral cats sighted were humanely destroyed.
The team had recorded 382 culled feral cats over the past five years.
The SPCA distinguishes between feral and stray cats, with feral cats legally designated as pests in many places in New Zealand.
SPCA area manager Bruce Wills said the SPCA was not a pest control organisation and did not routinely accept wild cats.
Gisborne’s SPCA took in 149 stray kittens and 72 surrendered kittens, and rehomed 90 during this kitten season alone (September 2024 – March 2025).
SPCA advocated for humane and sustainable management strategies, including targeted trap-neuter-return programmes, said Wills.
“SPCA also provides desexing vouchers for people willing to allow unsocialised adult cats to remain on their property.”
Companion Animals NZ general manager David Lloyd said they supported local councils and government bodies to require both microchipping and registration for pet cats and the mandatory desexing of all cats and dogs.
Lloyd said based on registered microchips there were 5118 cats on the NZCAR list in Gisborne, with 91% of cats marked as desexed.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded bt RNZ and NZ On Air
