New Zealander calls for cat-free future

WELLINGTON, N.Z. -- Gareth Morgan has a simple dream: a New Zealand free of pet cats that threaten native birds. But the environmental advocate has triggered a claws-out backlash with his anti-feline campaign.

The businessman called on his countrymen Tuesday to make their current cat their last, to save the nation's bird species. His website, Cats To Go, depicts a tiny kitten with red devil's horns. The opening line: "That little ball of fluff you own is a natural born killer." He doesn't recommended people euthanize their current cats -- "Not necessarily but that is an option" are the site's exact words -- but rather neuter them and not replace them when they die.

"I say to Gareth Morgan, butt out of our lives," said Bob Kerridge, president of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "Don't deprive us of the beautiful companionship that a cat can provide individually and as a family." -- AP