New Zealand council plans to ban all pet cats

Don't go to New Zealand if you're a cat person.

There are loads of cat lovers in Ireland. Sure, they probably don't get the same love as dogs, but who does? Either way, we don't think people would want to get rid of them entirely. Well, a new initiative in Omaui, in the Southland region of New Zealand wants to do just that. The initiative, proposed by Environment Southland, wants cat owners to neuter, microchip, and register their cat with local authorities. Then, once their pet dies, they will not be allowed to get any more. Seems a little harsh... The reason for this is that cats in the area are responsible for the deaths of millions of birds, insects, reptiles and mammals every year. Biosecurity operations manager Ali Meade told Newshub that: "There's cats getting into the native bush; they're preying on native birds, they're taking insects, they're taking reptiles - all sorts of things. They're doing quite a bit of damage." Environment Southland are keen to stress they're "not cat haters" but they're trying to promote "responsible pet ownership" and that Omaui is really not a place for cats. Speaking about the ban, Meade said: "Your cat can live out its natural life at Omaui happily doing what it's doing. But when it dies, you wouldn't be able to replace it." We wonder if we could do this with those really brave pigeons in Dublin. They're getting far too big for their boots...