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Some regional SPCA branches, including Wellington, trap neuter and release stray cats back into the wild.

There are no records kept on just how many stray cats there are in New Zealand, but its estimated there are 20 thousand colonies of them in Auckland alone.

Associate Professor Brett Gartrell, who is the co-director of New Zealand's only dedicated wildlife hospital, Wildbase at Massey University, says this runs counter to every conservation effort practiced in New Zealand, and the SPCA should be putting the animals down.

The Chief Executive of the Royal New Zealand SPCA Rick Odem also speaks to Kathryn Ryan.

Nine to Noon also spoke with Peter Dorman, the founder of The Lonely Miaow, an Auckland volunteer group that tries to rehome stray cats in Auckland. There are an estimated 20 thousand colonies of strays in the city, and Mr Dorman says the group can't keep up, but is the only organisation dealing with strays in the city.