‘Harmful cat feeder’ in Christchurch: Calls for authorities to intervene amid pet fears

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Food has been seen scattered outside and inside people's properties in Christchurch. Photo / RNZ / Anastasia Hedge

By Anastasia Hedge of RNZ

Residents in three Christchurch suburbs are calling for intervention from police, SPCA and the local MP to stop a woman they say is harming their pets.

Cat owners in Papanui, Bryndwr and Bishopdale have tracked a woman they are calling the “local harmful cat feeder”.

Seven-year-old cat Tabs is now on steroids after a case of vomiting left him severely underweight in December.

He was ordered onto a strict diet, but owner Sara said that was proving tough when a cat feeder had been dishing out questionable cat food in her neighbourhood for years.

“I know she’s fed my cat potato chips because he was vomiting daily. We had to put him in the bathroom at night because it’s easier to clean up. Just last week, he vomited up crinkle cuts and we don’t have crinkle cut chips in the house.

Videos and photos from Papanui, Bryndwr and Bishopdale show a woman carrying bags of food and putting it on leaves or junk mail outside and inside people’s properties.

She has also been seen grooming cats with a brush and in one video appearing to take a cat from underneath a fence.

Sara said she had asked the woman to stop feeding her cat, but she continued to put food out every day.

“I usually see her on my street between 10am and 11am so I put him out after 2pm and someone else’s poor cat has eaten up the food.”

Another resident, Sharmaine, said her cat, Lucky, ate food the woman had laid out and on the same day became very unwell and had to be put down.

She said she could not prove the woman’s food caused him to get sick, but she was not taking any chances with her other cat Phoebe.

“She’ll stand outside and click her fingers, like ‘come on’, trying to encourage my other cat outside and I look at her like ‘don’t even think about it’. I can’t even say anything, without being so, not hateful, just very angry and frustrated.”

Kate, like Sara and Sharmaine, said she had asked the woman repeatedly to stop feeding her cat Archie, who she noticed had put on significant weight, despite being fed just once a day.

She said she had laid a complaint with police after she confronted the woman, who was on her property on Saturday.

“I told her to leave and I said I’m going to keep standing here until you leave, until you stop feeding my cat and she came right up to me and I said ‘don’t get physical with me love, if you do that you’re going to jail’.”

Dozens of cat owners have shared their run-ins with the woman and stories of their sick cats on the Facebook page, named Stop the Local Harmful Cat Feeder.

A petition has gathered more than 430 signatures calling for police, SPCA and local MP Sarah Pallett to act.

Police confirmed it was assessing reports of the woman’s behaviour for criminality.

It said it understood pets were loved members of the family and their welfare was of great importance to their owners, and any concerns about behaviour in the area should be reported to police.

SPCA scientific officer Alison Vaughan said they were aware of the situation and working with other agencies on the case.

“A lot of people who do this do it with good intentions and sometimes can be great actors, I know my cats often try and persuade other people that they haven’t been feed.

“But the reason why we urge people not to do this is that it can be an issue in terms of causing dietary issues, cats suffering from obesity, they may have allergies and it can also change their behaviour so stopping them coming home, which can be really, really upsetting for owners, who might not know what’s happened to their cat.”

Cats should avoid food high in fats, which can lead to illnesses like pancreatitis, and food with pathogens like raw meat. Another worry was that some cats would consume foods they had allergies to.

Vaughan said people could also use collar tags to let others know not to feed their cat.

“It’s undeniable that there are risks associated with cats roaming, and one of those risks is that they can eat things that they shouldn’t and that’s not just food that people leave out but other things like slug pellets, antifreeze, there’s all manner of hazards.

“So if people are worried, there is an option to keep their cats on their property and that’s not a matter of just keeping your cat inside your house. There are now a lot of options such as catios, cat-proof fencing, you can have an enriched home environment, you can take your cats for walks.”

Bishopdale Medical Centre had put up a sign addressed to the cat feeder, asking them to stop feeding cats on their property because it was attracting flies and they were sick of cleaning it up.

Christchurch City Council said staff had followed up on complaints from residents, and the woman was spoken to, but her actions were not deemed an offence under the Litter Act.

Cat owners did not wish to see any harm come to the woman.

“I think in her head it probably comes from a good place, she possibly loves cats and wants and make sure they’re not starving but that’s not what’s happening,” Kate said.

They said all they wanted was for the behaviour to stop.

- RNZ

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