Ōpōtiki News

A centre for stray animals is boosting security after a dog broke in and killed three cats in a “frenzied” attack.

The deaths of Flo Jo, Sage and Freddie last week sparked community outrage and prompted Ōpōtiki Society for the Care of Animals administrator Kathleen Young to forget about aesthetics and focus on dog-proofing the outdoor cattery.‌‌

“I don’t want the place to look like a fortress, but we will have to remove the hedges and construct the fences,” she said.

Constructing fences around the 13m by 28m enclosure was a big job and Young said an appeal for funding had already resulted in “generous donations” from the Ōpōtiki community.‌‌

With the catchphrase that “OSCA provides a safe haven for unwanted and stray felines in our community”, it was impossible to keep cats in the outdoor cattery until security had been upgraded, Young said.‌‌

When she arrived at the centre last Friday, she found two of the outdoor cages had been broken into by a “frenzied and midsize dog”.‌‌

“The dog has been gnawing on planks and ripped protective plastics off the cages,” Young said.‌‌

“It must have been here for at least 15 minutes and it was a horrible way to die for the cats.”‌‌

Nobody at the neighbouring properties heard the attack.‌‌

In one of the cages, a cat that had been at the centre since October last year was dead and in the other, two “cattens” (teenage cats) were killed.‌‌

“Luckily, we kept two other cats that are normally inside in the house since they were on medication,” Young said.‌‌

The outside cages are now unusable.‌‌

Young said Ōpōtiki District Council planning and regulatory manager Gary McCormack had contacted her after the attack.‌‌

“He expressed his sympathy and arranged for a dog trap to be brought down,” she said.‌‌

“A dog might return to what they see as an easy place to kill a cat.”‌‌

- Sven Carlsson, Rotorua Daily Post