'Trapping'. Really sterilising or killing?

browniebaobao SG

Trapping today

Here's what I understand happened. Some caregivers had decided to check on the pest control to ensure that the sterilised cats would not be caught. When they got to the site of the trapping, they found one sterilised cat caught already. There may have been some indication a gunny sack was used to trap the cat. In addition, they were trying to trap another sterilised cat. I asked one of the caregivers how far away she was from the cat, and she said about as far from the pest control. She said it was quite clear the cat had a tipped ear.

One of the caregivers then immediately tried to contact the town council to ask what was happening, and was given the run around. She was told the officer in charge was out and nothing could be done till he got back. She went down to the town council office personally, and was told to go check with another caregiver as the town council did not want to deal with so many residents on this. How the other caregiver is supposed to know why a sterilised cat was caught is beyond me. The press had contacted her by this time as well to ask what was happening so she told the officer there she was just trying to find out what happened and mentioned the media had also been calling already. The caregiver had not contacted the press and had no idea who had - but of course news must have spread like wildfire.

As I understand it, she saw the senior manager who told her the approriate people were on leave and that she would need to wait till they came back. She told them that she could not wait because the cat had already been caught - and so he made a call to release the cat. It seems the cat may have been a house cat and was released to the owner.

SPCA called me at this point and said they were also getting questions from the press who wanted to interview both SPCA and CWS.

To be very honest, I didn't want to go to the press, nor did SPCA at this point. I was certainly hoping it could be worked out with the town council but news had already gotten out about this (and how DO you hide something like this in a country as small as Singapore?). The main thing of course is that we don't want to jeopardise any future working relationship with the TC (though they have ignored my previous email and when I dropped some information at their office and asked for a meeting).

I asked the journalist where they heard about this and she mentioned they got an email from a Tampines resident who was upset about the situation. The caregivers are understandably in an uproar about the whole situation.

I understand that the town council said that there had been a mistake on the part of the pest control, but this should all be on the news in a bit so watch out for that.

I've just been informed the story cannot run tonight. More on when it'll air when I have the information.

http://www.catwelfare.blogspot.com/

browniebaobao SG

No one really cares

I was just speaking to a feeder in one of the areas today. She looks after the cats, but for some reason, she feels she has to stop sterilising because she promised one of the officers she would not do so, so she says. Some of the officers, in an attempt to curb the population, asked people to stop sterilising in some areas. This was so they could trap the rest.

In addition, she had some cats caught in her area recently, and I called to check if they were sterilised cats and why they were caught.

She told me that there was no point in talking to the town council or the MP. She would just pray for their eventual retribution because all the officers were evil.

Now first things first, just because the town council says something does not mean you HAVE to agree, it is not an inalienable truth that can never be changed. After all, you LIVE in the TC - the TC is supposed to make YOUR life easier, not the other way around. As a resident, your feedback counts - or it should count at least as much as the feedback of complainants.

Secondly, praying may be good for your soul, but praying for someone else to face retribution probably isn't going to be Smile Putting that aside, let's face the immediate earthly plane. Why not TALK to the TC? The feeder says that the other people all say it's no use, that the TC doesn't listen, etc etc, though as far as I can ascertain none of them have really tried.

I told her if that's how they feel that the TC is right - no one really wants the cats there. If the people who are supposed to care the most about the cats cannot rouse themselves to let the town council or MP know how they feel, then they can't want the cats there very much.

This feeder's idea of speaking to the town council is also rather unique. Instead of proposing solutions, she told the officer he would face retribution one day for his evil actions. Now she says he doesn't want to talk to her. I have told her repeatedly we could hold a workshop to teach all her feeders how to handle complaints, how to manage the area properly, but they're all too busy for a workshop in their area. They have to feed the cats, and she has to pray - this despite the fact that I told her we can arrange a time to come down which is suitable for them all.

She has agreed that if her own cats are targetted, she will speak with her officer, but she can't do anything about anyone else's area, which is true.

http://www.catwelfare.blogspot.com/

browniebaobao SG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy-UnEvILiY

_Aaron_ SG

According to the article, the killings have stopped after it was published in the papers, (and maybe also of the patrols), yet i have no doubt that the crazy bugger will do it again.

Lets just hope he doesn't.

browniebaobao SG

but from what I read in CWS..

Q: What happens if I call up and complain about a cat nuisance to my town council/management committee/residents committee/AVA?

A: If you are living in a town council and call them to complain, the cat is taken away and killed.

If you live in a private estate and complain to the AVA, the cat which is trapped is killed.

If your management committee or residents committee is trapping cats and is not part of a TRNM programme, the cats are again in all likelihood either being killed or dumped. Neither of these are good solutions.

These cats are not being taken to a nice shelter somewhere where they are looked after for the rest of their lives simply because there isnt enough space to accommodate all these cats. They are being taken away and killed.

This does not mean that if you have a valid complaint that you must suffer in silence. Contact CWS and well work with you to find an effective and humane solution.

http://catwelfare.org/page/id/23#G05