Pussy swapping is the next big thing to hit North Dunedin. An initiative is underway to deal with the rising number of stray cats in the student quarters.
SPCA Executive Officer Sophie McSkimming said the Society “hopes to have a Facebook page for Cat Swapping by the end of the week.”
Students will be able to post a picture of their cat on the page in the hopes of permanently rehoming it or finding someone who wants to take care of it temporarily over the summer.
After receiving a number of complaints about the increasing cat population, DCC Councillor Kate Wilson began working with OUSA and the SPCA to take action. “The University area was acknowledged as an area with a large population change at the year’s end that sometimes resulted in cats being deserted,” Wilson said.
With students accumulating feline flatmates over the University year, there are surplus cats that are not taken out of North Dunedin for the holidays, causing an increase in the population of pussies in Dunedin.
Wilson believed that the problem lay in “stray cats being ‘adopted’ by students, fed, and being healthy enough to breed, [resulting in] numbers growing.”
The SPCA is currently inundated with cats, and is well over their capacity. The Cat Swapping initiative aims to reduce the number of cats in North Dunedin by encouraging flats that wish to adopt a cat to find one on the cat swap site rather than acquiring a new one.
Another initiative has also been put in place to get a de-sexing bus up and running in Dunedin in the hope of preventing cats from breeding like rabbits. The SPCA is funding the bus, which aims to de-sex 300 cats and 50 dogs for free over a period of three weeks in December.
Female cats at the SPCA will also be adopted for $65, half the usual price, from 4-10 October. Free pamper packs have been donated by local businesses for the SPCA to give to adopters.
Wilson stated that she “[doesn’t] encourage or discourage students having cats … I encourage students to be responsible, spay their cats, keep rubbish covered and stored well to reduce scavenging of strays. And if you find cats and want to deal with them consider seeking advice from the SPCA.”
McSkimming noted that the SPCA does not currently adopt out to anybody living in North Dunedin.
Too Much Pussy in North Dunedin
