A hunting competition in New Zealand that asked children under the age of 14 to kill feral cats was met with harsh criticism by the New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
The North Canterbury Hunting Competition, aimed at raising money for a local school, was offering $250 to the boy who had killed the most feral cats by the end of June, the New Zealand Herald reported.
The definition of wild cat (Feral in English) is a definition used to describe cats that do not interact with humans, have aggressive attitudes and are not microchipped.
In a statement seen by the Herald, the SPCA said, “The organizers stated that cats will be screened for the presence of a microchip to identify domestic cats, but this will only be done after the animal has been shot and killed.” They added on Facebook that it’s impossible to tell the difference between domestic cats, stray cats, and feral cats, and that people put their pets at risk: “Also, children often use air rifles at such events, which increases the likelihood of pain and distress and can lead to long-term death. Here in Christchurch, our SPCA Superintendent Leader says cases of non-immediate fatal shootings of cats are not uncommon, one just happened yesterday, April 17.”
The organizers of the contest, on the other hand, could not stand the reactions and announced that the contest was cancelled.
“Our sponsors and school safety are our top priority, so it was decided this year to withdraw this category to prevent further backlash,” said a statement on Facebook. We are disappointed and apologize to those who were excited to be involved in an event related to protecting native birds and other vulnerable species. For clarification, our hunters for all hunting categories are required to comply with the firearms act of 1983 and subsequent amendments, as well as the animal welfare act of 1999,” they wrote.
Contest “Destroy the army of squirrels”
Similar competitions have been held in past times, when people were more willing than today to let children run around shooting live animals. One remarkable incident occurred at an event in California where children were asked to go out and “destroy the army of squirrels” and bring their tails to their school as proof of their killing, which caused a tremendous odor.
In that competition, nearly 100,000 squirrels had lost their tails (and possibly their lives) in one week.
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