New Zealand economist Gareth Morgan has raised the hackles of worldwide animal lovers by suggesting New Zealand eradicate all felines.

Morgan is likely more of a dog person. And a bird lover.

He’s suggesting all cats in his nation are natural born murderers and so should be done away with.

He’s even set up a website to explain why the cats should go and never come back.

“The fact is that your furry friend is actually a friendly neighbourhood serial killer,” he wrote.

Though, Morgan did acknowledge people have emotional attachments to their pets.

“But there is a real problem with cats — they kill for pleasure, and most of that killing is out of your sight so probably out of your mind.”

Cats are fuzzy-wuzzy button-nosed assassins in kitty clothing, he believes, that are slowly, but surely, murdering the birds of the tropical paradise.

About half of the families in New Zealand have at least one cat. The birds fend for themselves.

But while his cause has brought out the claws of cat lovers globally, Morgan argues he’s not out for blood.

“I am advocating responsible pet ownership, not for people to bop their pets on the head,” he said.

While still vilified, Morgan is getting support from various New Zealand wildlife experts who say more than a million birds a year are caught in the calculating clutches of the carnivorous creatures.