09/07/2026
A SAD TIME FOR CAT LOVERS & RESCUERS: We've just learned that the North Canterbury Hunting Competition, which awards prizes to children and adults for killing the most, and the heaviest, "feral" cats (amongst other species identified as "pests"), is happening THIS WEEKEND, from Friday, July 10 through Sunday the 12th!
What a sorry way to celebrate Matariki!
The hunting/trapping period actually began April 1, with hunters encouraged to keep the dead bodies in their freezers until this weekend's weigh-in.
According to a July 7 NZ Herald article (https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/animal-welfare-groups-launch-legal-action-over-north-canterbury-cat-hunt/MEH72IPXV5GG5OP7I4YCVMOV6U/) the hunt raises funds for a community pool and other facilities at the Rotherham School, where this weekend's weigh-in and prizegiving will take place.
The hunt is a longstanding tradition intended to unify and benefit the rural North Canterbury community and provide services in areas where it's believed government falls short.
It was only when organisers introduced the "feral cat" category in 2023 that it gained international notice, and notoriety. That year, opposition from NZ and abroad was so fierce that the feral cat category was withdrawn. But it was quietly reinstated in 2024 and 2025, and remains in 2026. The competition website even brags about making international headlines (not mentioning the headlines were mostly outrage at the cat killing).
Organisers brush off critics' claims that the cat hunt violates NZ's Animal Welfare laws. Hunt opponents also say that encouraging young children to kill cats (and other animals) damages children's natural ability to feel empathy for other sentient beings, especially cats, whom many people love as family members. Critics argue - and we agree - that this is a form of child abuse, and cite abundant research showing that most violent abusers of other people started out by harming or killing other animals, often pets.
We at The Peaceable Kin-dom wish humans didn't hunt or kill other animals at all. But we understand there's a big difference between raising or hunting animals ethically for food - with concern for quick, minimal-suffering deaths of the animals and respect for their bodies and spirits - and hunting and killing for sport, with the animals' bodies treated disrespectfully in games like pig-carrying contests.
We cringe when we see 4-year-olds on the front page of local papers, proudly clutching the limp ears of bunnies they've killed. And when the pages of competitions like this one show photos of teenagers holding dead cats by their tails, and people chatting casually by trailer loads of murdered cats, our hearts break and our minds fear for the future of empathy in the young people of this country.
Let's be clear: this post is NOT about whether NZ has a wild cat overpopulation problem - we all acknowledge it does, even if we disagree on who's responsible and what to do about it. We encourage thoughtful discussion of the most humane ways to reduce the unowned cat population. But that's not what this post is about, so please save that conversation for another place.
This post is also not about whether cats kill birds or lizards - we know they do. They also kill rats and mice, who themselves also decimate the bird population. According to research cited in the NZ Herald article, 81% of feral cats' diets are rodents. Previous cat culls have resulted in rat and rabbit population explosions, according to White in the Herald.
THIS post is about opposing the cruelty, terror, and suffering which cats (and other hunted species) experience in these sporting competitions, and the cruel, empathy-deadening effects on children (and adults) who witness or worse, participate in the slaughter of beautiful animals whom many people love as family members.
Imagine the public outrage if it were dogs, instead of cats, being hunted and killed in this way! But instead, dogs are encouraged to aid in the hunting and killing of cats and other animals - training which makes them dangerous to people, as well.
While the hunt website rules say cats must be killed "humanely," some of the site's own videos show dogs attacking treed cats, and grown men shooting cats out of trees and dropping trapped cats into cattle troughs to drown. These killings can in no way be called "humane."
In 2024, a video by protestors at the competition shows young children (well under the competition's "official hunting age" of 14) chanting "Meat - Meat - Meat" while dangling dead cats' bodies in their hands (see NZ Herald https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/north-canterbury-hunting-competition-kids-parade-pest-kills-for-protesters-after-organisers-reinstate-cat-category/ZSFUVDN4CVH2RIYL6C4KOZLWYE/)
*********************
We've just learned there's an international coalition of New Zealand and other animal welfare organisations, that are trying by legal means to stop this slaughter of cats by adults and children. Two NZ coalition leaders are former regional councillor and animal rescuer Kathy White, and NZ Cat Foundation founder Anne Batley Burton. The Peaceable Kin-dom will be contacting them to learn how we can support their efforts.
We'll keep you informed of what we learn, and we'll let you know how you can add your voice to the groundswell of opposition to the growing demonisation of cats and increasing official policies - like Predator Free 2050 - that encourage community members to trap and kill cats they think are "feral." Too many Golden Bay and Nelson Region families have already suffered heartbreak from losing beloved cats to trapping, poisoning, shooting or drowning by cat-hating neighbours.
Unless this coalition pulls out a miracle - and we pray they do! - it's likely too late to stop this year's slaughter. This is heartbreaking to us. We'd like to see the whole hunt cancelled, because we value all animals' lives, but we recognise that won't happen soon, if ever.
So we're going to do everything in our power to get the cat category removed from future hunts, by writing letters to MPs, Councillors, AND to the principal and Trustees of Rotherham School, whose reputation is being damaged internationally by accepting "blood money" from the killing of cats and through the heart-hardening of their students to the suffering of other creatures.
If you agree with us that this hunt is inhumane and harmful to cats, children, and NZ society in general, we encourage you to add your voice to ours, by writing and/or calling the law- and policy-makers whose names and contacts we'll provide when we get them. And please share this post with other people you know who love life, animals, and children.
********************
An RNZ report from the 2024 hunt said one man received a $500 prize for killing 65 cats!!! In our opinion, that's not "encouraging conservation" - it's subsidising psychopathy!
The 2024 hunt claimed the lives of 370 cats. That's 2-1/2 times the 146 cats The Peaceable Kin-dom team of volunteers have saved over 6-1/2 years and thousands of donated dollars and hours of patience, care, and love. You can probably understand how heartbroken and discouraged we feel about that!
The majority of our rescued cats started out "feral," and there's not a single one that didn't eventually come around to trusting humans - some just took longer than others. All but a few of these kitties are now in permanent homes with people who love them as treasured family members. Each one has a story - we've shared a few of them, and will share more. Each cat is an individual with their own personality, and each loves their life as much as we humans love ours.
Each of our rescued cats would be considered "just another pest" to be eliminated, by the organisers and participants in the North Canterbury Hunting Competition. And WE say... each of the dead cats piled in a trailer after the hunt, or swinging by the tail from the hand of an uncaring primary schooler, could have become a loved family member like our rescued kitties - IF they'd been lucky enough to be rescued rather than hunted down and killed.
This cat hunt is forcing us human New Zealanders to confront a stark choice: will we evolve into truly HUMANE beings caring for our feline kin, or will we continue to be the "alpha predators" some people hate cats for being?If you've read this far, we hope you'll join us in opposing the killing and in seeking kinder solutions for all beings.
WARNING: Some of the videos we've linked here are graphic and can be upsetting to view. We found some of them to be quite sickening. We watched them all because we felt it was necessary to learn what some people think, feel, and do, that is so very different to our attitude and relationship to cats and other animals. And we found them VERY hard and painful to see; many tears were shed. So please read the captions and use your discretion in choosing what images you implant in your memory. It's enough to know these practices exist in our country, to be motivated to change them. If you join us in this effort, we thank you.
REMINDER: This is not a place for any kind of people-hating, either! Though we hate what some of the people in this hunt are DOING, and we'll do everything in our power to stop them, we're still part of one Kin-dom with all humans and other animals. Education, social, and financial pressure are our tools. We want to change behaviour, hearts, and minds. So please keep that in mind, in your comments.
We're looking for win-win resolutions, brought about through respectful conversations, even when the subject is heated. And THE KILLING OF CATS is just about the most-heated subject any of us here can think of!
Creating a truly "peaceable kin-dom" of humans and other animals seems like a far-away dream, when we learn about what goes on at hunts like this. But if we can find a peaceable way through this - in our local communities and in New Zealand - we may be contributing a small-but-vital component to the peace our world so desperately needs!
In kinship, sorrow, and hope,
The Peaceable Kin-dom all-volunteer team, which we'd love for you to join
