All Posts

This is taken from a letter published on Today, Feb 2 issue from long-time TNRM advocate Dr Tan Chek Wee.

Link

::

Ivan:

Regarding the earlier post about MUIS’s stand on keeping and treating pets, Salina has written in to them.  According to her, she decided to write to MUIS directly as a milder approach, rather than addressing them through the press as she felt it might create a fair bit of negative reactions. 

On the same topic, the magazine that I mentioned yesterday has a section on religion and pets too (Pg 63).  However, it did not touch on MUI’s stand: if a pet causes conflict in the family, it is permissible to kill it.  CWS hopes this particular suggestion by MUIS can be changed as it conflicts with responsible pet ownership which is what all the local animal welfare groups are advocating.

Li Tin:

Looks like our official website at www.catwelfare.org is back online! 🙂

On the side, let’s take a look at this fantastic TNRM video (as forwarded to me by a friend) made by a YouTube celebrity who has a series of cat-related videos. I personally love his way of presentation and the production quality. Who knows? We might be able to get him to help us do up a video that goes more in depth on the benefits of sterilisation of Feral/Stray/Community Cats. 😀

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwc1QiWKIi8&hl=en&fs=1]

Ivan:

CWS has received email from a muslim caregiver about the stand that MUIS has given on the above issue.  She is not agreeable to statements that are publised on the MUIS website about it.  She mentioned that some of the statements advocated irresponsible pet keeping and hoped that MUIS works more closely with SPCA and AVA to improve responsibility toward pet cats, including keeping them indoors and keeping them for live.  Another non-muslim caregiver has also texted me about this and he has written to the press as well.

Due to the religious/racial sensitivity of the issue, we have asked Salina, our sole muslim committee member to respond to it since she is familiar with the muslim teachings.  Our media representative, LiTin is looking into the matter too. 

CWS urges all to share with their religous leaders, friends and family about the benefits of TNR and other responsible pet cat keeping issues.

Li Tin:
Kailing and I went to Expo earlier in the night to set up the booth for tomorrow’s (at the time of this post… it’s this morning actually) Responsible Pet Ownership Roadshow 2008.

Past years’ events were usually held at Orchard Road for 2 days, but this time round AVA had decided to extend the roadshow to 3 days and have it in a cool indoor area where activities can be better contained… and the best thing is – THERE IS AIR-CONDITIONING!

Sorry, I personally don’t fare too well in the humid heat of our sunny Singapore, but I digress.

Here are some of the event details.

Date: 7-9 November 2008 (Friday to Sunday)
Time: 11am – 9pm (will most probably close shop earlier on the last day)
Venue: Singapore Expo Hall 6B (the one nearest to the Expo MRT station!)

We will be having merchandise sales… and a special lelong of our Christmas Cards at $2 for a pack of 8!

Do pop by and say hi to our volunteers! =)

(Psst Kailing, please put pictures up together with this post ok? Thanks!)

Ivan:

I tried using this to deter community cats on top of moth balls and it proved to be useful.  Xiang Mao if I translate it correctly should be lemon grass.  You can buy this oil at medical halls or selected organic produce shops.  It sets you aback by $11.9.

Here’s a photo of it and I cropped out the Chinese name also for a clearer view.

[caption id="attachment_905" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Cats going home soon!"][/caption]

Kai Ling:

Here are the cats in their carriers waiting to be loaded into the van. Adding on to my previous post, we would like to also thank the vets for being part of Spay Day. It was a pity though, that some care-givers who signed up did not turn up with the cats, and hence, there were were extra slots not filled-up . Do thank your vets when you see them, for offering CWS subsidized rates for sterilisation on Spay Day. The participating vet clinics are: 

1. Allpets & Aqualife Pte Ltd
2. AMK Veterinary Surgery
3. AAVC – Animal & Avian Veterinary Clinic
4. Animal Practice Pte Ltd
5. Animal Recovery Centre Pte Ltd
6. Animal Recovery Centre (East)
7. Animal Recovery Veterinary Centre
8. Clinic for Pets
9. James Tan veterinary Centre Pte Ltd
10. Mount Pleasant Animal Hospital 
11. Mount Pleasant Animal Clinic (Springside) Pte Ltd
12. Mount Pleasant Animal Clinic (East) Pte Ltd
13. Mount Pleasant Animal Clinic (North) Pte Ltd
14. Mount Pleasant Animal Clinic (Bedok)
15. Mount Pleasant Animal Clinic (West) Pte Ltd
16. Namly Animal Clinic
17. Pet Clinic
18. The Animal Doctors
19. The Joyous Vet Pte Ltd
20. The Veterinary Clinic (Harbour Front Walk)
21. The Veterinary Clinic (Holland VIllage)
22. Vet Practice Pte Ltd 

Thank you all for your kind support!

[caption id="attachment_900" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Matching Cats to Vets"][/caption]

Kai Ling:

Spay Day 2008 concluded on Friday, 31 October 2008. A total of 157 cats were sent to the various vets for sterilisation – and it was certainly heartening to see so many enthusiastic care-givers bringing the cats in. In the AMK drop-off point where Wiggie was, one care-giver wrapped newspapers around the carrier so that the cat would be less scared enroute to the vet; thought that was really considerate and a pretty innovative idea!

It was also great to have met so many volunteers, whom took much initiative in loading and unloading the cats from the vans. They readily approached the care-givers to fill up the carrier forms and tag the cats very efficiently. Thank you all for taking time off your busy schedules.

I would also like to thank our most wonderful organizing committee – Wiggie, Meng Tuan, Betty, Li Tin, Rebecca, Jeannie, Michelle, Herbin and Sharon.  They were the ones working hard behind the scenes to ensure that Spay Day goes on smoothly – from getting vet slots, to charting transport routes, getting logistics and forms done and translated, to getting volunteers and tabulating lists. Special mention goes to Salina and Ivan for helping out by recruiting volunteers and for being always around. Also to Derrick and Emmanuella for designing the cool gift tags for the goodie bags and calling up the care-givers to remind them about Spay Day. Our transport people were also crucial to getting the cats to the venues on time.    

In short, there are so many people we would like to thank who made Spay Day 2008 possible. For those not mentioned too, you know we have you in our hearts!

Ivan:

I met with two caregivers yesterday evening to give them some CWS brochures that I had promised one of them earlier.  In the half hour session, they shared about the concerns they have with regard to caring for cats in the area.  Two of the issues highlighted include:

1. Stray Dogs killing Community Cats for the past 7 years. They witnessed many slow deaths of cats who were severely injured.

Advice to them include approaching Action for Singapore Dogs to come sterilise the dogs; find the stray dogs feeder to ask him or her to feed away from the estate (since the dogs all looked plump according to caregivers – so there has to be a person giving them food); speak to NEA if there are any nearby coffeeshops leaving their foodbins uncovered – attracting the dogs; do not leave kibbles for cats to eat as the dogs will be attracted to the food too and come to the estate.

2. Cats drowning when heavy rain sets upon the area.

Advised them to speak to their Town Council to about fixing the drains.  If Town Council is not in charge of the area, they can help channel the complain to other agencies that are in charge.

3. New Town Council Officer.

Shared with them about the importance of maintaining a good relationship with the new TC officer and they agreed to give it a shot.  This will be helpful when there are complains as the TC officer would likely approach the caregivers first than calling in the Pest Controllers directly.

My outreach work for here is done.  I have passed the case over to one of our Central-South zone representatives, Jeannie to follow up with them if necessary.  Ok, that’s all for now.

Ivan:

Thanks to the hardwork of Webgal (our Adoptions Bulletin Volunteer), we are able to put up some cats (belonging to fosters) for adoptions on the above paper, after a hiatus.

Many thanks too to Dell who has given advice on how to go about reviving this mode of advertising that we use to be part of, and Michelle for connecting with the journalist in charge of this third page of Sunday Classifieds.