To Gareth Morgan, your cute little house cat is the devil. The New Zealand native has one simple plan: to eradicate all of the feline “serial killers” in the country to save endangered or otherwise bird species.
On his website Cats To Go — which features a kitten Photoshopped with devil horns and red beady eyes — Morgan writes that house cats have contributed to the extinction of nine native bird species. Nearly half of all New Zealand households have at least one cat that has negatively impacted 33 species of birds and other wildlife.
Morgan writes, “If we are serious about conservation, protecting and enhancing New Zealand’s native fauna, even supporting a predator free New Zealand, then we must overcome our denial and acknowledge that we are harbouring a natural born killer.”
He suggests that cat owners get their pets neutered or spayed so they can’t procreate, and that local governments require mandatory microchipping and registration. Morgan also suggests that euthanasia is “an option,” for those less emotionally attached to their furry friends. At the very least, “[t]hat means keep them inside 24 hours a day and if that’s impractical then when the time comes ensure this is the last cat you ever own.”
A poll on the site asks, “Will you make your current cat the last one you own?” So far, just 28 percent say yes, while 72 percent say no.
Morgan’s other personal endeavor is a project to eliminate mice from the Antipodes Islands, where the rodents are the ecosystem’s only predators.