New Zealand's controversial competition for killing cats has sparked an uproar among the animal activists. The competition was participated by children as well as adults to hunt feral cats for prizes ranging from NZ$500 to NZ$1000.

According to The Guardian, this year saw the highest number of cats killed at 340. It was about 100 more than the previous year.

One participant received NZ$500 for killing the most number of cats (65) while the NZ$1000 prize is for slaying the largest cat.

‘Like the devil on meth’: #NewZealand feral #cat killing competition produces record haul via @guardian

SHAME ON U #NEWZEALAND!!🤬🤬🤬https://t.co/4bPTNWxlUw#feralcats #cats #animalactivist #StopAnimalCruelty #stopkillinganimals #CatsAreFamily pic.twitter.com/rvAIzgX0Bs — We Are Mozzerians Ⓜ️ (@MozzeriansATW) July 2, 2024

Apart from the untamed cats, participants are encouraged to hunt other animals as well like deer, rabbits, ducks, possums and pigs. The feral cats were added to the list recently as they reportedly pose serious threat to New Zealand's native birds which are endangered.

The event this year was held in North Canterbury which saw participation of 1,500 people, 440 of which were under 14 years of age. Besides, roughly $60,000 was raised for a local school and community pool and the deer meat has been preserved for food banks.

But animal rights groups are still upset over the method of controlling the cat population. "There is nothing conservative about encouraging children to kill animals and people attempting to throw dead possums at us," said Sarah Jackson of the Animal Save Movement per The Guardian.

However, event organiser Matt Bailey said that there are safeguards in place to identify domestic cats from feral cats. Ironically, he even said that the latter are killed as humanely as possibly. Describing the feral cats as "devil on methamphetamine," Bailey also stated that he is not too worried about people who don’t understand."

(Image: Unsplash)