End New Zealand’s Inhumane Cat Slaughter

On New Zealand’s South Island, the cruel and misguided slaughter of cats is disguised as conservation in the North Canterbury Hunting Competition. This horrifying event – which offers prizes to hunters who kill the most cats, including children – is not only inhumane, but also scientifically flawed and ethically unacceptable.

Last year, facing international backlash, the hunt’s organizers restricted the cat-hunting category to those aged 14 and older. This year, the age restriction has been removed – now, if a child can hold a gun, the hunters will let them shoot cats.

We call on New Zealand authorities to immediately remove cats from the list of animals targeted by this hunting competition, and ban children from participating in the violence.

Sign the petition to demand New Zealand authorities ban cat hunts and protect children from violence.

Humane solutions like Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release (TNVR) are proven to work – killing cats is not only cruel, it’s pointless, scientifically misguided and morally indefensible.

Why the North Canterbury Hunting Competition must stop:

Killing cats doesn’t work – and it’s cruel

Despite what the hunt’s organizers claim, reports from the ground suggest that many of the cats are not killed humanely. Instead, they suffer slow, painful deaths from gunshot wounds, traps and unskilled handling. There is no guarantee of swift or humane killing, especially when carried out by untrained individuals and children. This is unacceptable animal cruelty. Owned, loved pet cats have also been killed in this bloodthirsty massacre. The North Canterbury Hunting Competition turns killing into a sport, and no animal – especially misunderstood cats – should be hunted for points and prizes.

Hunting ignores the cause of the homeless cat crisis

New Zealand does not have a national cat sterilization policy, which would force cat owners to spay and neuter their pets. Instead, unsterilized cats continue to breed and irresponsible owners dump kittens on roadsides and in the wilderness, exacerbating the problem. These cats are simply doing what they can to survive after humans abandoned them – and now they are being hunted for the crime of existing.

The vacuum effect: Killing just brings more cats

When cats are killed or removed from an area, other cats simply move in, take advantage of the available resources and breed indiscriminately. This well-documented ecological phenomenon is called the vacuum effect, and it makes culling pointless as a long-term population control method. Rather, by sterilizing an area’s cats, the colonies keep control of the area until they naturally die out.

Children should not be involved in killing animals

Involving children in the killing of animals under the guise of “conservation” is dangerous and deeply troubling. It risks:

• Normalising violence and desensitising children to animal suffering.
• Promoting the idea that cruelty is an acceptable form of wildlife management.
• Creating long-term emotional and psychological harm by encouraging young people to harm sentient beings.

Killing the cats is completely unnecessary and sickeningly cruel.

At Network for Animals, we believe that conservation should never come at the cost of conscience, and we know you agree. There is a better way – a humane solution to reduce cat populations that actually works, and that will make a real difference for both the cats and native wildlife: Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Release (TNVR).

• TNVR humanely stabilises and reduces cat populations over time, protecting native species without cruelty.
• Sterilised cats don’t breed, and colonies become smaller, healthier and less disruptive, eventually dying out.
• TNVR is globally recognised and scientifically supported as the most humane and effective solution to managing outdoor cat populations.
• The current methods of killing cats in New Zealand – traps and poison – have both been shown to actively harm and kill the native species they are trying to protect.

Cats deserve compassion, not cruelty. Let New Zealand authorities know that the world is watching, and that this barbaric cat hunt must end. 

 Please sign this petition and share it far and wide. We demand:

1. The immediate removal of feral cats from the North Canterbury Hunting Competition’s target list.
2. A nationwide ban on children participating in animal hunting competitions.
3. The implementation and funding of community-based TNVR programs across New Zealand.
4. An end to cruel and ineffective wildlife “management” practices that promote suffering over science.