By Jerram Watts
A fierce debate has broken out in Masterton about what to do with wild cats breeding in a local park.
On one side there's the SPCA lobby which says they should be left alone - on the other there are those who want the cats trapped and euthanised or simply shot.
A colony of stray cats has made its home in Queen Elizabeth Park - they're more playful than pesky, and don't seem to mind people.
However the council is not happy.
“The cats are feral cats from the council's point of view, they don't belong to anyone, they've obviously been released in the park by people that don't want them,” councillor Sue Southey says.
Val Ball of the SPCA says the cats have been in the park for years, and are fed regularly by the public.
“If the cats were feral they would tend to keep to themselves, way out of sight. They would only come out when people have gone.”
But the cats are breeding, and the council wants to act.
“If we decide to catch the cats, and how we are going to do that, then they will be euthanised,” Ms Southey says.
Or shot, which is a suggestion from one councillor who wouldn't appear on camera today, but who told 3 News the cats are a menace.
But the SPCA would rather they be trapped and de-sexed.
“I don't believe that they need to be put down, no," says Ms Ball.
They look healthy, but some of them are diseased and are disturbing other wildlife.
“And they catch our birds, which is not what we want, we want the birds in the park not the cats,” Ms Southey says.
Glen McIsaac has been coming to the park for years, he says they aren't feral but something needs to be done.
“They need to be controlled, perhaps they need to do a culling or something.”
Council officers are now preparing a report so a decision can be made on the cats in two weeks.
3 News