A kinder TC?

After having seen a few TC posters with the anti-littering message which were rather anti-community cats in nature, I thought this one is the kindest. It focuses on the people who commit the littering act, and there seems to be an implicit acceptance of community cats. Yayy!! :)


The message says:
If you want to keep pets, clean up after them.

The Chinese version:
饲养宠物之余，也请保持环境干净。


What a big improvement over those messages sent out by the strictly-follow-the-book, run-of-the-mill TCs, which create the wrong impression about community cats. However, I do note that the poster doesn't say "if you want to feed the strays...". Oh well, one small step at a time. :)

This one is by Bishan-ToaPayoh Town Council.

Complain less, appreciate more

From My Paper, 14 July 2008

( Newspaper clipping kapo-ed from Chinky :P )

Getting life's priorities right

From My Paper, Wed, Jul 09, 2008

Getting Life's Priorities Right

A PATIENT once told me: "You know what, doctor, when I was told that I have cancer, suddenly all my shares, my properties and my brand-new car have no more meaning."

Yet, the attachment that some Singaporeans have to their cars never fails to amaze me.

When they notice scratches on their vehicles after shooing off a cat resting on them, for example, they would complain to their condominium management or the town council.

These motorists get so angry with the destruction of their "happiness" that they will not rest their case until the cats in the carparks are removed.

In the Housing & Development Board carpark where I park my car, there is a cat which would occasionally rest on car bonnets, including mine.

I have found its paw marks on my windscreen several times, but there are no scratches on my car, just a few small dents that are definitely not caused by a cat.

Whenever I see the cat resting on other cars, I would shoo it off and brush its hair off the vehicles so that the motorists would not complain about the cat's presence.

To me, what is important about a car is that it is functioning well enough to be safe on the road.

So what if it has scratches or dents? Cars are bound to get such marks.

The car does not feel the scratches. Rather, it is our attachment to the car that makes us feel the pain.

The patient who spoke to me became depressed after he was diagnosed with cancer, but his condition improved after he took stock of what was truly important in his life.

When he was near his life's end, I asked him if he was afraid. He said no.

He had done no harm to others, he said, and he remembered the good things that he had done. He also relished the happiness he had brought to others.

He died peacefully.

Dr Tan Chek Wee

Cats Do Not Scratch Cars

Cats who sleep on cars risk getting complaints, and if they sleep under cars, they risk getting burnt by the hot exhaust pipe, as Fennie had in this video. She has a wound at the nape of her neck.


Clicky here: Cats DO NOT scratch cars

Reply to TC

My reply to a TC officer asking for advice to deal with complaints about a car park at another area having "too many cats and cats scratches":

Dear xxx

The fact is, cats do not scratch cars just by resting on top and then jumping down from their cars. This fact has been tested and borned out by Dawn Kua when she was the Operations Director of Cat Welfare Society (CWS), and by other car owners who are friendly to cats. Cats will only unsheathe their claws if they feel threatened (e.g. someone wants to hit them) or if they are trying to defend themselves. Out of all the stray cats I've met, I would say over 90++% are docile and I have never got scratched by strays for many years now.

Which blocks are the complainers staying at? If these are the repeat complainers as the previous time, just ask them to chase the cats away, or spray with a water spray bottle when the see the cats. After some time, the cats will get the message soon enough. If not, they can cover their car with a cover.

If they don't want to try anything, then they are not helping themselves. If they only insists on having the cats removed, then ask them do they want to be responsible for sending the cats away to be killed and have blood on their hands? Is this what their religion has taught them (assuming they have a religion or some spiritual guidance)?

Or you may contact CWS' volunteers for help and advice at: http://www.catwelfare.org/
Good luck.

Regards

TODAY: Where's the 'heart' in heartland?

Today, June 25 2008
Where’s the ‘heart’ in heartland?

Town Councils should accord cat caregivers the same respect asthey do other residents
Letter from Helen Gamp

IN MY estate and the adjacent one, several residents like myself go beyond just ad hoc inter-racial harmony events, to forge a bond through a common goal of managing the cats in our community humanely. We trap cats, most of whom are abandoned, for sterilisation and offer assistance to the Town Council to resolve feedback about cats.

In the neighbouring estate — that is under another Town Council :— we started sterilising the cats about two years ago and the Town Council has agreed to let us, the caregivers, look into complaints and not engage pest controllers to round up the cats to be killed at the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority.

Based on our knowledge about “community cats” and from talking to complainants as well as residents who may need to be educated on responsible pet ownership, we can resolve problems without the need to kill. This is important to us as we feel this is what the “heart” is about in a “heartland”.

However, we are disheartened by our recent discovery that a particular Town Council officer instructed the estate cleaning supervisor to direct his workers to trap cats and release them elsewhere. This came to light when a resident found a sterilised cat, bearing a left tipped ear, in a trap. We spoke to several workers, who admitted that they had trapped cats and released them in parks elsewhere.

This perhaps accounted for some of the missing cats over the last few months.

All we ask of the Town Council is to accord us the same respect as every other resident but we find that residents who complain seem to be accorded more rights especially if they complain aggressively.

When the Prime Minister was sworn in, he said that Singaporeans, through hard work and dedication, have built a cohesive and progressive nation that is founded on the principles of meritocracy, social justice and compassion.

We hope this inspiration can be translated in the paradigm shift of Town Councils and others as well. Instead of according due respect to residents such as ourselves, who are in fact following the Government’s repeated appeal for active citizenry, we are instead treated with disdain.
(Source: http://www.todayonline.com/articles/261448.asp)

(Click to enlarge)