12 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong> Thursday <strong>February</strong> <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong><strong>20</strong>
• By Sophie Cornish ONE YEAR ago, a week-old kitten was tapped inside a shoe box and thrown from a moving vehicle, sparking national outrage. Fast forward 13 months, Brighton the kitten, now Taz the cat, is settling in at his new home after his foster family “fell in love” with him and decided to make him a permanent part of the family. Taz’s disturbing case gained widespread media coverage and investigations by SPCA and police forensic teams followed, but the offender was never found. A witness who saw the incident on New Brighton Rd was suspicious of the shoe box being discarded out the window into a red zone paddock and went to • By Sophie Cornish RED ZONE contractors have been told be on the lookout for groups stripping fruit trees to sell for commercial purposes. A report was made to Land Information New Zealand last week by a man who witnessed a group of people taking “vast amounts of fruit from trees in the residential red zone for commercial purposes,” LINZ manager land and property Matt Bradley said. <strong>The</strong> witness took photographs of the cars being used which included the licence plate numbers. However, Mr Bradley said given the information provided, it would be difficult to investigate the report further. Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz ROUGH START: <strong>The</strong> shoe box Taz was found in. investigate, finding Taz, who was suffering from severe cat flu. <strong>The</strong>y believed the car involved was a silver Holden Commodore, with a brown or marooncoloured back left door panel. Said SPCA spokeswoman: “Despite this, Brighton (Taz) proved a resilient and happy kitten. He went on to spend some time with a foster family and made a full recovery in a few short weeks.” Taz’s foster family said he “instantly became best friends” with baby, Ella Rose. Said Taz’s foster mother Haylie: “Taz enjoys catching his knitted mice and loves my daughter, he will literally follow her everywhere. I have to shut her bedroom door at night-time to prevent him from getting in her cot. “Ella-Rose loves him just as much. He loves his food, and Ella-Rose’s food too, so we have to keep an eye on him. He is such a lovely kitten and has really fitted into our family.” HAPPY ENDING: Taz, formerly Brighton, had a rough start to life after being thrown from a moving vehicle. Now, he has a new family and has “Instantly become best friends” with Ella Rose. •HAVE YOUR SAY: Have you seen groups stripping fruit trees in the red zone? Email sophie.cornish@starmedia. kiwi “We take this allegation seriously and have notified our contractors, who carry Thursday <strong>February</strong> <strong>20</strong> <strong>20</strong><strong>20</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong> NEWS 13 Cat living happily with eight lives to spare Groups strip red zone fruit trees for commercial use out regular monitoring of the residential red zone and have asked them to keep an eye out to help prevent this occurring again. “<strong>The</strong>se trees were left in the area for the community to enjoy free fruit, and we do not condone them being used for commercial gain.’’ Last month, city council revealed a new online map, which shows the exact location of more than 6000 fruit and nut trees around the city which are free for consumption. But, the information was given with a warning, urban foragers should follow foraging etiquette, meaning people should care for the trees and leave enough for the next person. Horncastle Arena, 26-28 June <strong>20</strong><strong>20</strong> Exhibitors Book now Don’t miss your opportunity to showcase your business in front of 10,000+ qualified attendees New exhibitor packages available lisa.lynch@starmedia.kiwi or 021 800 809
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