CWS Membership Perks Finalising

Ivan:

It is massive calling, sms-ing and emailing the past two days for me, as I go about finalising the shops/businesses participating in the membership perks scheme.  Good thing is most of the businesses I approached have agreed to participate.  I should come up with the list by this Sunday and post it up by next Monday.  A hardcopy will be issued to members too later.  You can start enjoying these perks once your new membership card reaches you.

Many thanks too to Yvonne and Gem who helped in this project.

International Aid for Korean Animals

Ivan:

I was trying to find out if there was a South Korean SPCA as I wanted to write to them about some animal abuse cases (that of overcrowding), I saw during my holiday trip .  I managed to find the above mentioned agency that has an English worded website.  After reading about what they do, I was really impressed.  You can visit their website here.  Besides working on improving the welfare of dogs and bears, they also advocate for the welfare and status of the cats in the country.

I wrote to them too about possible collaboration through the sharing of knowledge about improving the welfare of cats in the two countries.

CWS engages in these international connections because cross-cultural knowledge exchange would ensure we are using the best known techniques to improve the welfare and humanely reduce the population (through TNRM) of community cats in Singapore and around the World.  Some of our current patners are: Alley Cat Allies (USA), Holyland Cats (Israel), etc.  If you do find such international or local networking work interesting, we do have a Events, Public Ed. and Outreach subcomm that deals with these outreach work.  Just shoot us an email at info@catwelfare.org or to myself (ivan@catwelfare.org) for more information.

Repeat Kitten Abuse Case in Bukit Panjang Area?

Ivan:

About the case that Sarah has posted earlier, my personal opinion is that it might be a repeat job of the Bukit Panjang Kitten abuser.  Here is the earlier case that is on SPCA’s Online Appeal Webpage (please see the last page).  Notice the bloodied mouth in both cases.  Abuse or not for the latest case, please watch out for the cats and kittens there.  If you do know of any Bukit Panjang Caregiver, please share the information with him or her.

Back From MIA

Li Tin:
Sorry for being a little quiet on the front end… and thank you Ivan for keeping this place updated!

Now that my work has eased up a little, finally I can embark on the various uncompleted tasks ahead!

1. Website revamp, am working with a friend to redesign the site.

2. A form for everyone to post up Adoption Notices.

3. New merchandise: We are looking at smaller items like pouches for tissue paper and shopping bags.

4. New posters and standees for our events.

Phew, that’s a lot to complete! Stay tuned!

Update on Caregivers’ and Meet-the-comm members Tea

Ivan:

Thought it is timely for CWS to give an update about the caregivers’/meet-the-comm members tea.  The event is still on, the time is now finalised at 3.30pm.  We are in the final stage of getting hold of a central and reasonably roomy location.  Please continue to watch this space and/or our website for updates on the location.  All caregivers are welcomed to this event.

The New Paper Report about “Cat Town” in Jln Pemimpin near Bishan

Ivan:

Got this article from someone who posted it on Singapore Cats Message Board.  It is about a TNP report on the 21st of July 2008 about some cats in the above mentioned area, and how they were causing panic to car drivers as they crosses the street regularly. 

I would like to comment that one of the solutions that was suggested about trapping cats using traps loaned by AVA (probably with intent to send the caught cats to AVA to be put to sleep), is not a long-term solution.  It is better to start a Trap-Neuter-Release Managment program in the area to sterilise the cats to keep the population down in the long haul.  At the same time, if the sterilised colony is well-managed, sterilised community cats generally does not cause problems (contrary to what the report suggested).

Who’s who in CWS

Ivan:

I got quite a number of queries on this one and I thought it is good to have it here for all to view.

President (Michelle Lee), Vice President (Sarah Ismail), Hon. Treasurer (Marcus Lee), Hon. Secretary (Salina aka Lynn), Committee Members (Ang Litin, Aliah Ali, Clodya Kennedy, Neo Kailing, Jacq SeeToh and Ivan Ong).

We also have 5 subcommittees headed by executive committee members:

Mediation and Public Relations Subcomm (Aliah and Sarah)

Events, Public Education and Outreach Subcomm (Kailing and Ivan)

Media and Merchandise Subcomm (Litin)

TNRM Subcomm (Clodya)

Adoptions, Administration and Operations Subcomm (Salina)

Michelle, our President is the overall in charge of all Subcomms heads.

If you are keen to join us as subcomm members, here are the information on how to go about.

Feedback to CWS and Zone Representatives

Ivan:

I just got offline with a caregiver who mentioned to me that she has yet to receive her receipt for her membership application.  At the same time, she mentioned that a few other people had similar issues and the feedback is that CWS is now slow moving with claims, receipt issuing, etc.   

Personally, I wish to take this opportunity to highlight that CWS almost shut down a few months ago after Dawn has left the society.  We had a major reorganisation that sees the introduction of 6 new committee members (Clodya, Kailing, Salina, Litin, Aliah and myself).  Currently, we are 3 committee members short of the 10 required.  Two of the former committee members are outgoing and there is also one committee member vacancy. 

After the new committee were formed, we were trying to straighten many things out before we could operate optimally.  Now that we have done that and with the recent hire of a new part-time Operations Manager (Wiggie - most of you know her already. Yes, she is our Catsnip hotline lady), we are ready to quicken processes.  However, there will be times whereby some of us will be busy because all of us are either working or studying full time.  As such, I hope all can understanding our situation. 

Meanwhile, if anyone out there you know is a good candidate for executive committee, please feel free to email us.

Concurrently, I take this chance also to highlight that if there are non-urgent cases in the area that you feed/care for and you need advice.  Please email to info@catwelfare.org.

If the case is urgent, you can proceed to email directly to the zone representatives. I believe most are aware who they are but I will refresh everyone:

West (Jurong, Bukit Batok, Clementi, etc.): Aliah, Litin and Ivan

East (Tampines, Pasir Ris, Bedok, etc.): Salina, Kailing and Clodya

Central (Tiong Bahru, Lavendar, etc.): Michelle

Just have to have our names end with “@catwelfare.org” to reach us, “e.g. ivan@catwelfare.org“

South Korean Cats

Ivan:

I went to South Korea for a brief holiday.  I found out before my trip that cats are not well-liked by many of the locals and that cat meat is consumed too (on top of dog meat).  Thus, I did not expect to see many stray cats or find much pet cat food to bring home.  True enough, I only managed to see 2 cats and 1 kitten.  The two cats were very feral and afraid of people.  The kitten was placed in a box by a few men and they were laughing as they spoke in Korean, maybe the kitten was meant for the dinner table or as a pet (the last few years see the younger South Koreans reflecting a neutral or more favorable view toward cats; some are also keeping them as pets).

I managed to find 2 brands of cat food in a mega mart and bought some back to Singapore.  Here they are.  

Meanwhile, here are some local and overseas articles/links to the cat and dog meat consumption issue. 

http://www.acres.org.sg/news/news_press14june02.htm

http://www.acres.org.sg/news/news_staronline-14jun02.htm

http://www.idausa.org/campaigns/korea/alert_070620.html

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/443306262

Stray cat makes heck of a mess

Ivan:

I just got back from a brief overseas holiday and finished checking some 70 over emails that came in my six days of absence.  I saw this letter to the Straits Times that Sarah just emailed over. 

Basically, the writer complained about a cat who came to poo outside her home, about feeders who did not heed her advices and about her Town Council. 

If you are a caregiver from the mentioned area, perhaps you can speak to the Town Council to find out more about this case and offer help if necessary (before the cats get culled).