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A competition for kids to hunt cats in New Zealand has been stopped after people complained about it. People were upset when the people in charge of a yearly hunt said there would be a new category for kids to hunt feral cats, which are a problem in New Zealand.
Kids were told not to kill their own pets, but they were told to kill as many wild cats as they could to win NZ$250 (£124; $155). Animal care groups spoke out against the event right away.
On Tuesday, the New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it was glad the “children’s category that involved shooting feral cats” would not happen.
AFP says that a spokesperson said that both children and adults would not be able to tell the difference between “a feral, stray, or scared domesticated cat.”
One of the people who used to support the hunt told a local news outlet, Stuff, that there were also worries that house cats could get “caught in the crossfire.”
The event was part of a June hunt to raise money for a school in Canterbury, which is on the South Island.
Wild pigs, deer, and hares are killed as part of the fight every year by hundreds of people, including children.
Tuesday, the people in charge of the North Canterbury Hunting Competition said they were cancelling the cat event because they had gotten “vile and inappropriate emails.”
The group wrote on Facebook, “We are disappointed and apologise to those who were looking forward to helping protect our native birds and other vulnerable species.”
More than 100 people replied to the post, and many of them justified the event. People said that the hunt could have been a “controlled cull.”
“If only people knew how much damage feral cats do around here,” wrote a local.
“They also affect the work we do. Wild cats spread diseases, so as long as we keep seeing them, we’ll just keep killing them, she said.
In New Zealand, where feral cats are a big threat to native species and the country’s biodiversity, there is a lot of debate about how to get rid of them.
The Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society, which is New Zealand’s biggest conservation group, says that feral cats could kill as many as 1.1 million native birds and tens of millions of non-native birds every year.