NATIONAL Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Friday weighed in
on the long-standing war between people bothered by stray cats and
those who love them and seek to protect them.
His stand: Culling of cats in HDB estates is not the way to
go.
He wrote on his blog, Housing Matters, that he has asked the
Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) to review its practice of
culling stray cats.
He has also roped in his Minister of State Tan Chuan-Jin to work
with the AVA, animal welfare groups and residents to 'forge a
compassionate and mature approach to this problem'.
Last year, about 5,100 stray cats were put down. The year
before, the figure was 5,400 and in 2008, it was 6,800.
The minister wrote the post following a Meet-the-People session,
during which a resident cried to him about her pet cat, which she
said had been picked up by the AVA and could be culled.
-- ST
