Cats in Whangarei District to be desexed and microchipped
Due to very popular demand over many years, our new rules for cats requiring them to be microchipped and desexed come into effect today. 🐈
Good for cats 😻✅
Good for critters! 🦎✅
Our Health and Bylaws Manager, Reiner Mussle, has been part of the team to put this together. “Desexing cats will cut down on unwanted litters and strays which prey on native birds and lizards to survive. Desexed cats are also less likely to roam and get injured fighting with other cats. Cats' microchips registered with Companion Animals New Zealand can be returned more easily if they get lost.”
We’ll be taking an educative approach to this issue rather than taking a hard line with enforcement. This means working with owners to encourage them to microchip, register and desex their cats, and connecting them with other community resources to do this if needed. It’s about encouraging responsible cat ownership.
During the recent review of our Animals Bylaw the public
told us they wanted greater controls for cats. We received over 1300 submissions about cats, with very strong support for cat microchipping and desexing 🙀
Read more on our new webpage for Responsible cat ownership .
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I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?
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Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Have you got New Zealand's best shed? Show us and win!
Once again, Resene and NZ Gardener are on the hunt for New Zealand’s best shed! Send in the photos and the stories behind your man caves, she sheds, clever upcycled spaces, potty potting sheds and colourful chicken coops. The Resene Shed of the Year 2026 winner receives $1000 Resene ColorShop voucher, a $908 large Vegepod Starter Pack and a one-year subscription to NZ Gardener. To enter, tell us in writing (no more than 500 words) why your garden shed is New Zealand’s best, and send up to five high-quality photos by email to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. Entries close February 23, 2026.
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