Cat lovers claw a bargain | Northland News | Local News in Northland

Whangarei felines are going cheap as the SPCA attempts to free up spaces and find them  homes.

A decrease in adoptions has triggered the agency to drop its prices from $150 to $80 for cats and from $150 to $100 for kittens.

The special will run from March 13 until March 27 and all cats would be sold de-sexed, vaccinated, de-fleead and wormed.

There are  10 cats and 17 kittens at the full-up Kioreroa Rd animal shelter, with another 10 more due to return from foster care.

Manager Francine Shields said tough financial times meant people weren't taking on pets unless they were confident they could afford it.

The downside was  many animals worthy of a good home were missing out.

"We understand people putting off adopting for financial reasons but others can manage and may have been thinking about it for a while."

It was important people did not take pity on animals and put themselves in a positions where they couldn't afford it, Ms Shields said.

Even at full price, the SPCA didn't cover its costs when a cat was adopted, and the sale was purely about boosting adoptions, she said.

 Whangarei SPCA had noticed more people bringing in their animals after ending up in a situation where they couldn't cover costs.

"Some have lost their job or can't pay their rent ," Ms Shields said. "There's no shame in bringing them to us if they can't afford it."

A prolonged kitten season due to warmer weather was contributing to the overflow. "Kitten season used to be 3-4 months long and we used to have people waiting for them. Now it goes from November to May and there isn't the same rush."

 Whangarei SPCA continues to fly animals around New Zealand with an 18-month-old border collie kelpie  and 6-month labrador-staffie  delivered to Wellington last week.