Dead kittens at Petir Road

Sarah:
Someone found two kittens dead at Petir Road. . Warning - pix are qraphic.

So far, no one knows it’s abuse. I sincerely hope this was just an accident. SPCA has been informed.

“..once was lost..but now.. aaaaaaam found…” - CWS Lost and Found

Sarah:
Our hardworking volunteer Jodie has been manning the lost and found boards for the last year. However, due to work pressures (translation, she just got a job ;p ) she had to step down.

If you haven’t seen your lost and found post going up in the last week or so, it’s because she and the new volunteer have been working to transfer the database over. We hope to get it running by the end of this week.

So, er, try not to lose your cats for awhile. Ok, I’ll be serious. There are lots of things that you can do to find your cat. First..

Injured cat at Speaker’s Corner

Someone wrote in from Denmark to say that she saw a badly injured kitten at Speaker’s Corner(Hong Lim Park). She described having an injured tail, a missing left eye, and its jaw was of out place. It was thin, and white with gray dots.

If you are in the area, please see if you can find this cat.

Wanted: One Giant Cat

Sarah:

Does anyone know where we can get a nice giant cat toy that we can modify into a mascot? Preferably cheap, and preferably not Hello Kitty.

Lion Poo keeps cats away

Sarah:
This website has a product that’s supposed to stop cats from entering your garden. Basically, it’s dried lion poo.

It works on the vacuum principle. Basically, cats come by, smell the poo, get convinced that there’s a GIANT cat in the garden, and run away screaming in fear.

I have never tried it, but it should be interesting for all those people having cat problems!

Today: Where’s the ‘heart’ in heartland? 25th June

Sarah:
Helga sent in a very nice letter to Today. You can look at it
here.

She says that the caregivers in her area have been working hard at establishing bonds between the community. However, she noticed that there have been problems with the local town council, who trapped sterilised cats and released them elsewhere. This has caused a lot of pain for the poor caregivers, who are left wondering what happened to the cats.

Essentially, her point is this: the caregivers have been heeding the government’s call for active citizenry, and have been fostering community and social cohesion. Despite this, why is it that the people who complain about cats are considered so important, that their complaints are addressed immedietely? Surely the people who have been helping out in the community - like the caregivers - are the ones who should be respected as well.

She’s not asking for caregivers to be given more respect. She just wants them to get what everyone else gets - the respect of being a member of the Singaporean community.

ST forum: Be Compassionate to Animals Too

Sarah:
ST forum carried a nice letter about ACRES

Lions killed by insecticide

Sarah:

The BBC carried a story about lions in Kenya that are being deliberately poisoned by insecticide. Apparently villagers and herders who find the lions dangerous are leaving poisoned animal remains.

Although it’s lions in Kenya, it’s very similar to the problems that we are facing in Singapore and in an urban environment. In Kenya, the herders and people have started moving into lion territory. As a result, the lion naturally looks for food (like buffalos, cows) that the humans own, or wanders into the villages. The herders get upset, and try to kill the lions.

I want to help take care of the cats

Sarah:
We sometimes get students writing in who want to help. Some of them explain that they want to help take care of the cats.

Usually I tell them that we don’t have a shelter, but they’re welcome to help in other ways. I do wish they’d actually read up about us first, but in a way, I understand that why they think that way. After all, I used to be a little girl clamouring to volunteer to take care of the cute kitties at the SPCA.

Well, now I’m bigger, and now I’m a volunteer. And instead of cute kitties, I spent my weekend surrouded by numbers and charts, figuring out how CPF works. As far as I can tell, everyone pays CPF, one way or another. We’re doing this because we are going to hire a part-time operations and adminstration manager. It won’t be cheap, especially with CPF, but we want to do the right thing.

Little ingrates

Sarah:

Sometimes when I see a community cat, I wonder - do they know that we’re helping them? Do they care?

The reason why I’m bringing this up is because I’ve been on medical leave the last few days. Our newly adopted cat was so fascinated by the fact that I was home during the day, that she decided to play all day in my room. And now I can’t get much work done, because I think she’s hidden my spectacles.

Dear cat - it’s not funny. Oy. I’m trying to help the rest of your “family” here. Just for that, you’re not getting any canned food tomorrow. The OTHER cat, the good cat, will get your share.

Like I said, do they know? Does it matter to you if they don’t know?