"Junior", a gregarious ginger feline, had developed a large public following by making friends with all who visited Queens Park.
Floral tributes have been laid at the gate of the park’s winter gardens in remembrance of the cat with character after he was killed crossing Queens Dr to visit his favourite haunts earlier this week.
He was renowned for enriching lives and lavishing his love on all who came across his path or sought him out.
A social media comment said "Junior was a very good listener".
Junior’s owner, Christine Morrison, said she had reconciled herself that the daily Queens Dr crossing to visit the park put her "Ginger brat" at risk, but she was unable to stop him visiting the park.
In the early days, park staff would find him lazing in the warmth of the winter gardens and drop him off at the SPCA.
Microchip details would quickly have him returned home, only for him to head back to the park at his first opportunity, she said.
"Junior had a mind of his own."
Junior became an unofficial park attraction, with many making dedicated trips with the intention of finding him.
The page became a place where people would post pictures of their encounters with the cat in Queens Park.
She saw photos of him in a pushchair while the child walked; another of him sitting behind a little girl on a rocking horse in the playground and another where he had gatecrashed a family picnic lunch.
"He loved children ... that’s very noticeable by the photos. He was very, very social."
Junior was a rescue cat who came into her home as a kitten with two other siblings and his mother — of the four cats, only one has survived the busy road.
Ms Morrison had Junior cremated and hoped she would be allowed to spread his ashes in either of his favourite haunts: the Japanese or winter gardens.
Social media comments called for a crowd funding page to raise funds for a memorial plaque or statue to be installed at the park.
Invercargill City Council staff were unavailable to comment on what could be approved as a memorial in the park.
- By Toni McDonald
