The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1887. PROTECTED CATS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1453, 11 January 1887, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1887. PROTECTED CATS.

It will be remembered that a week or so ago an Order-in-Council was iseued declaring the domestic cat a natural eo<»my of the rabbit, and m consequence prohibiting the killing and capturing of that useful, melodious, and prolific animal m any place " outside the boundaries of any city, borough or town district." The penalty for contravention of this prohibition is to be found m the 29th section of "The Rabbit Nuisance Act, 1882," which runs as follows : — " Any person capturing or selling, or disposing of, or killing any animal so declared to be a natural enemy of the rabbit, without a permit signed by an Inspector so to do, or m whose possession or on whose premises any such animal shall be found by any inspector or by any constable, 0 >less such person shall prove that the ammal so killed, sold, or m his possession was lawfully m his possession, or that the sime was on his premises without his knowledge or consent, shall be liable to a penalty of not less than five nor more than twenty pounds." From the foregoing it will be seen that persons residing m country districts, who have more cats than they know what to do with, may easily be placed man awkward dilemma. One indeed, who v is m such case, has written to the Timaru Herald, asking what he is to do to get rid of a couple of litters of kittens.. The only advice our contemporary is able to give m the circumstances is that he should either get rid of his surplus feline stock on the sly, or to make himself perfectly safe, should obtain a permit from the Rabbit Inspector of his district, and % \ thould further protect himself from a fine of from five to twenty pounds by branding every cal m his possession m such a way as to enable him to swear ,to its identity as his lawful property m case he is put to the proof by any inspector or constable. "In the last suggestion, our contemporary is doubtless poking fun, but for all that there is really a serious side to the business ; and it is not unlikely to be found that this protecting of cats will prove an unmitigated nuisance. The Herald indeed questions the supposed usefulness of cats as rabbit-destroyers, and while admitting that a cat may occasional!} kill a rabbit contends that n has not yet been proved that cats will make such havoc among rabbits as to materially diminish their numbers. Yet more, it amusiDgly points out that the cat shows a disposition to go over to the enemy altogether, remarking that " it has been stated on apparently good authority that m at least one district m Austialia the cat has contracted matrimonial alliances with the rabbit, and that the offspring (a large lop-eared long-furred brute with a brush like a fox's) now stands afar off, laughs the I disconsolate settler to scorn, and makes equal inroads on his pastures, his poultry, and his larder." Finally, says our facetious contemporary, "if the Governor's Order m Council leads to the introduction of that kind of. beast into New Zealand it will greatly discourage the pursuer of the present pure-bred pest, (which at all events has the merit of being known when seen) for he will be m doubt whether, id case of a successful chase, he will be paid for a rabbit skin or fined twenty pounds for killing a cat." Really this " natural enemy of the rabbit " business is being overdone, and the reductio adabsurdum is surely reached when His Excellency the Governor is induced to sign Orders m Council to save blind kittens from the bucket.