Nelson Weekly Locally Owned and Operated
Wednesday 26 February 2020
Solar smiles at NCG
Page 8
Rotoiti Powerboat Club Regatta PAGE 16-17
Coast to Coast’s youngest racer
Call for cat bylaw after stray surge
Grieving fiancée searching for answers
Kate Russell Reporter
kate@nelsonweekly.co.nz
Jonty Dine Just two days after Schan Crowther agreed to marry her partner, he was killed in a motorcycle accident. Caleb Neho Wikaria died in the early hours of November 3 from injuries sustained in the crash on St Vincent St in central Nelson. Stricken with grief, Schan says the loss of her fiancée has been compounded by her ongoing battles with police. She is still searching for answers about the day Caleb died, with conflicting reports between police and eye witnesses adding to her frustrations. The 26-year-old laid a formal complaint with the Independent Police Conduct Authority citing poor communication from the lead detective. Full story on page 3.
Schan Crowther has laid a complaint with the Independent Police Conduct Authority over the investigation into her fiancé’s death. Photo: Jonty Dine.
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Local vets and the SPCA are calling on Nelson City Council to introduce a microchipping bylaw for cats, as they struggle to deal with the number of strays. Last year the Nelson SPCA centre saw nearly 300 stray cats and kittens through its doors, a number manager Donna Walzl would like to see reduced. “I’d love to see compulsory microchipping for cats. They sit in a cage for up to seven days waiting for their owners and it’s the nicest feeling being able to reunite them - especially if they are sick or injured,” she says. A microchip is a permanent method of identification which allows vets, animal shelters and councils to contact the owner of a cat. About the size as a grain of rice, it is injected under the skin with a unique identification code which can be read by an electronic scanner. The code is recorded alongside the owner’s contact details on a national database. Practice manager at Victory Vets, Brendan Hickman, says from a veterinarian’s point of view, stray cats can be a financial burden as well as an emotional one, and compulsory microchipping would make their job much easier. “We get numerous cats that come in injured or found dead and we can’t find their owner. With injured cats, we’re investing our own finances into helping them. We spend a lot of money on these cats.
SEE PAGE 2
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