We understand some (but not all) ratepayers/property owners on Rakino Island have been asked to sign a petition to ban domestic cats on Rakino Island so that endangered species of birds can be translocated there.
When we bought our property on Rakino Island many years ago, we took out a mortgage to do so. To us it was an ideal opportunity to own an idyllic spot where our family, including dogs, could relax and enjoy life at weekends and holidays.
The pleasure of sharing Rakino Island with our remaining dog is still a highlight of our time on the island. That pleasure would disappear the moment Kiwis or other ground birds were introduced. The widely held perception is that dogs and Kiwis do not go well together. In that case, Kiwis must lose on Rakino Island, though we will support their fight for life in areas where private individuals do not own the land that groundbirds are being rehabilitated to. This small PRIVATELY OWNED island, dearly bought and dearly loved is a sanctuary for family life and values, not endangered species. Nearby largely uninhabited islands, Rangitoto, Motutapu and Motuhue, are surely better options.
We bought not into a bird sanctuary or a wildlife reserve, but into a special spot where there was freedom from unnecessary restrictions on our activities. Birds, including bell birds, are doing quite well, thank you, without restricting the freedoms we enjoy.
We always welcomed the joy of being able to walk our dogs off leads and they loved the absence of concrete, tarmac and unwelcome restrictions, even though they were properly restrained by training. We want this to continue.
If this well meaning but short sighted idealism takes hold on Rakino Island, all the pleasure that we happily enjoy and highly value could disappear in a sea of bureaucracy. It could destroy much that we have on this island haven. In our view. it could also destroy the financial value of the properties of those who might, one day, wish/need to sell in order to finance retirement in their later years. Restrictions that accompany bird and wild life sanctuaries are unlikely to enhance property values.
In any event, we wonder why it is considered necessary to ban domestic cats when simple methods to limit their abilities to hunt exist? Try a bell on a collar, or keeping cats indoors at night, as suggested by DoC.
This island is private property and it should not be ceded to nature at the whim of a few well-meaning individuals. Idealism has its place, but on Rakino Island, a privately owned island, it would signal the demise of the rights and pleasures that we bought into. It won’t stop with cats.
Robyn & Ian Cameron
robyncameron@uni-care.org
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