A new ordinance in the Rangitikei District of New Zealand is limiting pet owners to three cats per household. The new new feline bylaw was put into place after the district council received too many complaints concerning noise and odor in the area.
The new plan won’t force people to register their cats, like they have to do with their dogs, and Rangitikei council member Michael Hodder explained, “this is a case of dealing with nuisances. We haven’t instituted a reign of cat inspectors. It’s not like your dog registration. We’re not going to count people’s cats. We don’t care how many cats they’ve got. So long as the cats are happy, the neighbors are happy and everybody else is happy.” Happy cats for erabody.
Area cat breeder Merve Zohs agrees with the new policy. “So much breeding is going on there and they’re running loose and people are not bothering to fix the bloody things up, getting them you know neutered and spayed, so you’re going to get more problems. It will be like the rabbits.” The Gareth Morgan Foundation researcher Jeff Simmons added, “that’s why, ultimately, you need to move towards a system of registering, chipping and neutering all cats so that you can actually enforce these things.”
Naturally, registered cat shelters like the ASPCA are exempt from the new regulation, which also outlaws pigs, beehives, and roosters from urban dwellings, and restricts households from keeping any more than 12 chickens. Legally, 12 chickens are allowed in one’s condo.
Some citizens aren’t too happy with the ordinance. William Partridge, owner of four cats, said, “to make a statutory number I don’t think is necessary, quite honestly.”
The house cat has been a bit of a polarizing pet, as of late. A recent study featured in the journal “Trends in Parasitology” warned that cat droppings are a significant public health problem, and are linked to diseases such as schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, rheumatoid arthritis and brain cancer. A cat advocacy group called Alley Cat Allies called the study “fear-mongering, plain and simple.” Go cats.
Image via YouTube.