The Straits Times
Online STForum
Jan 23, 2009
Managing cats in East Coast Park: Cat Welfare Society responds to letters
I REFER to the letters by Mrs Serene Tan, 'Stray cats a pest at former Big Splash' (Jan 16), and Mr Noel Peck, 'Pests: Beware aggressive felines at seafood centre' (Jan 20).
Most cats may not 'look friendly', but few will attack a human unless provoked. There is therefore little reason to believe people are in any immediate danger of random cat attacks.
If the authorities act on these complaints, the Cat Welfare Society hopes other options will be considered. Culling cats is only a temporary fix which will have what is known as a 'vacuum effect'. This means that before long, new, unsterilised cats will move in from surrounding areas, causing the same annoyance as the previous ones.
A long-term and more humane solution to reducing the community cat population is a programme known as Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage (TNRM). This is a systematic programme of sterilising community cats and managing their colonies responsibly. Sterilised cats can be identified by a tipped left ear.
We wish to highlight the ongoing efforts of a volunteer group that has been involved in TNRM work at East Coast Park since October 2006. With support from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, this group has invested a significant amount of time and money in sterilising and controlling the community cats at the park. With time, the number of cats will decline due to natural attrition.
These volunteers also provide care to the cats. Members of the public should therefore not feel compelled to feed the cats, especially near food outlets. If members of the public want to join these volunteers in their caregiving work, they should get in touch with the society.
Not everyone views community cats with disdain. Many tourists and park users have commented that their visits to the park are made more enjoyable by the presence of 'feline friends'. The views of this group should surely be balanced against complaints about cats.
The ongoing TNRM efforts at East Coast Park are slowly but surely delivering benefits. We hope the active citizenry displayed by these volunteers and the organisations involved will be taken positively and their efforts will not be dampened by the sanctioned killing of cats.
Michelle Lee (Ms)
President
Cat Welfare Society
