WAR ON PESTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 82, 4 October 1944, Page 4

WAR ON PESTS

MINISTER'S VIEWS

.- The serious effect on bird life through people leaving cats on the hills and in the bush, was referred to by the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr. Parry) in the House of Representatives last night during discussion of his Department's estimates. The Minister said that Public Works employees had taken cats to their camps and when the work was finished the cats had been let go in the bush. The bush had been practically filled with cats. Public Works employees were not the only persons who had shown some remissness in the matter. In the cities every person seemed to have a cat, and when a family arr rived there were people who did not care about destroying the kittens, but waited until they were old enough and then took them out to the hills and bush and let them go. "I don't know how we are going to keep our birdlife if we continue doing that," added the Minister. Referring to deer destruction, the Minister said the fact that more deer were not being destroyed was entirely due to the Department having lost through war service practically. all of the effective deer destruction party that had been built up. Mr. R. M. Algie (National, Remuera): Your deer cullers are looking after devils somewhere else. The Minister said that was the position, and the deer cullers being good shots were carrying out their war service very, effectively. The intention was to reorganise the party as soon as the men returned, but in his opinion , the real need in the waging of war against pests was along the lines of \ establishing a wild life department under which the work of destruction ; of all classes of pests could be co- . ordinated. Until that was done he did not think they would overcome pret sent difficulties.

The Arbitration Court will sit at Wanganui next Tuesday and New Plymouth on Wednesday. An Auckland sitting, which is expected to occupy at least a month, will commence on the following Friday.