My New Town Council Officer

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

My New Town Council Officer

Our first encounter was terrible. It was a telephone conversation which lead to a heated argument.

Basically, he is a nasty, arrogant guy.

He had went down to the work place of one of the responsible caregiver, and complaint to her superior about her feeding cats. I don't see why he should bring that issue to her company. She feeds cats during her personal time, what has that got to do with her job?

I called him to clarify the issue of feeding cats. And he started off with these...

"YOU THESE PEOPLE leave food around and my cleaners had to clean up after you!"

When I said that those caregivers I work with will clear up after feeding. He demanded...

"YOU go and see the corridor at Blk XXX, there are food left there!"

I asked who has seen this caregiver or any of us putting food there, he claimed that he can't reveal the witness.

I told him that my group of caregivers is different from "YOU THESE PEOPLE" who litter. He said....

"I don't care, I will just summon anyone I see feeding cats!"

Since he is so unreasonable, we ended the conversation here.

Fuming mad, I called his manager who happens to be a newbie as well. Luckily, he is a reasonable guy whom I can properly communicate with. I explained to him what we are doing and he can always turn to us if there's any cat complaint.

I also told him that we will not stop him to summon people who doesn't clear up after feeding. I also asked for a reasonable time allowance to clear up after feeding.

Missing on the 6th of May, Lau-Hei was found 30 km away!

This is a very friendly old cat of at least 12 years. His only disadvantage is that he is BLACK!
The lady who looks after him all these years suspected that a resident complaint to the town council simply because he is black. There is no reason to find fault with this cat who is clean, do not make noise, do not scratch or bite anyone, do not breed, do not sleep on cars, do not need rumage dustbins for food, BUT he is simply BLACK!

Is the complainant some big shot that the town council officer decided not to inform the caregiver of the complaint as it would definitely be deemed unreasonable but activated the pest controller to relocate the cat so that there is NO record. After all, pest controllers are contracted to work for the town council and they will want to be on good terms with the officers to ensure that their contract is renewed. So it is highly likely that such pest controllers will be in cahoot with such unscrupulous town council officers!

It is truly a miraculous coincidence that someone snapped a photo of this cat on the 27th of May.

and then someone 30km away recognised the blue collar. The lady said the missing cat has a lump on the back of his neck, a deformed left ear from a recently treated infection and the blue collar has a row of paw prints on it.
28th May 2009: the cat was seen again however someone has removed the collar. A small lump was found on the nape and his ear was indeed slight swollen. Video was taken.
The caregiver was certain the cat was Lau-Hei after watching the video.
29th May 2009: the cat was easily put in a carrier and then driven 30km from east to north. It was a joyous moment for all during the meeting.

Two community cats: Koon-King and Koon-Rajah

Kindness Movement? Let's start with strays

TODAY Online Only - Kindness Movement? Let's start with strays
11:00 AM May 29, 2009
Letter from Mariann Maes

I refer to "A bouquet for SPCA" (May 28).

It was very heartwarming to have read Ms Shelby Doshi’s tribute to SPCA’s Mr Shankar for helping a kitten stuck in a drain. The only regret I have is that Mr Shankar probably would not be recognised at all by the Government to be playing a relevant role in our society.

In many developed countries like Australia and the United States, animal rescue units are set up with funding help from the government. Of course, animal rescues in these countries are more commonplace because of their natural demographic and widlife enviroments.

Nonetheless, Singapore also has its fair share of harrowing animal situations, except that these involve more dogs and cats than horses and goats. Sadly enough, without the focus by our government agencies such as the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), people in our society seem to care only for themselves. It would be completely unimaginable for an AVA or Civil Defence officer -- or indeed a typical Singaporean -- to climb a tree just to rescue a cat. Most people would just leave the animal alone.

Having publicly-funded and dedicated animal rescue units does not just benefit the creatures. Apart from expanding our local talent pool of veterinarians and animal specialists, caring for animals lays the foundation for loving fellow humans and the environment.

We must have spent a lot of taxpayers’ money and resources to on our kindness campaigns. Perhaps one unconventional approach is for us to start caring for stray and pet animals.

Kindness will naturally grow thereon. This would be the ideal mindset of a first world civic-minded society, as we have always claimed we are.

Dog ownership should be closely monitored

The Electric New Paper :

Dog ownership should be closely monitored
29 May 2009

THE Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) can do better to monitor the licences issued to pet shops for the sale of pedigree dogs.

They should also work with the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in educating owners on responsible pet ownership.

As dogs must be licensed in Singapore, AVA should make an effort to trace the whereabouts of the dogs if their licences are not renewed.

In the event that a person is unable to keep the animal, AVA should not provide free service to collect the animals because ultimately they may be accused by tax payers of providing such services for irresponsible pet owners.

FROM READER MARY LIM KIM SONG

A community cat called Mak-Hitam

This cat is about 15 years of age and is cared for by many residents in a block of HDB flats. In caring for this cats, friendship was struck between residents of all races and ages.

A community cat in Joo Seng estate

A bouquet for SPCA

TODAY
VOICES ONLINE

A bouquet for SPCA

12:00 PM May 28, 2009

Letter from Shelby Doshi

I wish to extend my compliments to Mr Shankar, officer on duty, for acting immediately on a call that I made to Ms Rita of SPCA on Tuesday night.

A kitten was stuck in a drain near my house for hours. Ms Rita sensed my concern and Mr Shankar was dispatched to the scene very quickly.

He was very friendly and patiently lured the kitten out while feeding its mother.

He also waited around to see if they were all right before leaving.

A community cat called Orange-Boy

And HDB keeps harping..cats are dirty!

Community cat in Geylang Lorong 3

Ban sale of animals to be kept as pets

The Electric New Paper :
Dumping of pets
Ban sale of animals to be kept as pets

28 May 2009

I REFER to the report 'Pet owners dump dogs on Ubin' (The New Paper, 25 May).

Such pet owners are very irresponsible and definitely oblivious to the feelings of animals.

As the owner of two lovely dogs, I am concerned at the way these owners treat their pets.

I appeal to the relevant authorities to consider imposing a ban on the sale of animals to be kept as pets.

The authorities have to address the root of the problem, which is the easy availability of pets.

People who still want to own pets will have the choice of adopting from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

The least the authorities can do is to introduce tougher rules and regulations on the sale of pets and have a monitoring system on all pet owners.

Singapore's chewing gum problem was solved thanks to the ban on the sale of all chewing gum.

Why can't the same ban be applied to the sale of pets?

Is it because they are only animals and hence not considered important?

Between July 2007 and June last year, 9,328 animals - cats, dogs, rabbits and hamsters - were left at the SPCA.

Of this number, more than 3,000 were dogs. And among abandoned dogs, over half were pedigree dogs.

What is the rationale behind complaining year after year that the abandonment of pets are rising?

There is no point trying to spread messages to pet owners to be responsible as some of them will never listen.

A lot of them give in to their kids' wish of owning a pet. Once the children get bored of the pets, they don't think twice about discarding them.

This is just one of the many reasons for pets being abandoned here.

I hope the authorities put in more effort to address the problem.

I also hope that more people will consider this idea and give feedback to the relevant authorities to impose the ban, or revise the rules and regulations for buying and owning a pet.

FROM READER MR SOMAN S/O PALANISAMY

MAN LEAVES GERMAN SHEPHERD IN SEA & speeds away from Pulau Ubin in boat

The Electric New Paper :


MAN LEAVES GERMAN SHEPHERD IN SEA & speeds away from Pulau Ubin in boat

Pricey breeds of dogs spotted abandoned on Pulau Ubin include:

German shepherd

Siberian husky

Jack russell terrier

By Desmond Ng
26 May 2009

FROM wild hornbills to flying foxes to wild boars, Pulau Ubin has always been known for its rich biodiversity and natural landscape.

But in recent years, it has also become a convenient dumping ground - for pedigree dogs.

Prized, expensive dogs such as german shepherds, a siberian husky and some terriers have been found abandoned on the island, said some Ubin residents that The New Paper spoke to.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) also received one such complaint a few years ago.

It's unclear how some of these dogs were taken to the island but a Ubin resident, Mr Simon Thang, 48, witnessed a german shepherd being dumped off a speedboat about four years ago.

He has been living on the island for the past 15 years.

The incident happened on the northern part of the island in 2005.

Mr Thang, who was working as a security supervisor on a campsite then, said he saw the boat pull up slowly near the shallow waters.

He suspected something was amiss because it was about 10pm and few boats stop in that area.

'I saw a guy on the boat gesturing for the german shepherd to jump into the water. I thought that the owner just wanted to play with the dog.

'Suddenly, the boat just sped away and left the dog in the water,' he said in Mandarin.

Luckily, the shore was just a few metres away and the dog managed to swim to safety.

Mr Thang said he played with the german shepherd for a while but it ran off and was never seen again after that.

It's obvious that these thoroughbreds don't belong on the island because most of the dogs on Pulau Ubin are mongrels, he added.

Some of the pedigree dogs started turning up on the island about four years ago, said Mr Thang, but most of them have since disappeared.

They could have been adopted by fish farm owners or killed by wild boars which roam the island, he said.

There are a number of floating fish farms situated just off the island.

Irresponsible

Mr Thang also encountered a siberian husky which turned up on his doorstep one evening about two years ago.

'I heard my dogs barking, I went outside and saw the husky just outside my house. It had a ribbon tied around its neck,' said Mr Thang, who lives just five minutes' walk from the jetty.

He fed the dog, which slept in his house that night.

But the dog scooted off in the middle of the night and never returned.

Said Mr Thang: 'It was such a beautiful dog. I am sure someone took the dog and kept it.'

Last year, he also saw another german shepherd outside his house. That dog also ran off soon after.

Mr Thang thinks that irresponsible dog owners who abandon their pets should be taken to task.

'These dog owners probably thought that it was best to leave the dogs on this island where they can roam around,' he said, adding that the dogs are domesticated and one couldn't expect them to hunt for their own food.

Mr Thang adopted a terrier, which he said someone dumped at Bishan Park three years ago.

Mr Chua Hup Guang, a 72-year-old bumboat operator, said he ferried a dog owner with his dog to Pulau Ubin some two years ago.

But the dog owner subsequently returned to the mainland - without the dog.

Said Mr Chua in Hokkien: 'I didn't ask him about his dog because I don't want to be a busybody. But I've heard stories about dogs being dumped in Ubin.'

Mr Chua - who has been plying his trade for over 40 years - said travellers who take their dogs with them over to the island are few, about once every few months.

Another long-time resident, who declined to be named, said he saw some of these pedigree dogs two years ago.

Said the 68-year-old in Mandarin: 'How can these dogs survive here? There are so many wild boars around here which could attack them.'

In Malaysia, villagers caught more than 300 stray dogs and dumped them on Pulau Tengah, an uninhabited mangrove island off Western Selangor.

The dogs were driven to cannibalism after weeks of starvation, according to an Associated Press report earlier this month.

The villagers said they had not intended to be cruel and had believed the dogs could survive on the island.

Mr Madhavan Kannan, head of the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority's (AVA) Centre for Animal Welfare and Control, said their officers have not seen any abandoned pedigree dogs on Pulau Ubin and they have had no reports of such dogs abandoned there.

There is no good reason to abandon these animals, he added.

'In the event a person is unable to keep the animal, they can consider re-homing the pet, seek the assistance of animal welfare organisations like the SPCA to re-home the pet or surrender the pet to AVA's Centre for Animal Welfare and Control,' said Mr Kannan.

The collection of unwanted animals like dogs and cats is a free service provided by AVA.

Under the Animals and Birds Act, it is an offence to abandon an animal. The maximum penalty is a $10,000 fine and a one-year jail term.

Appeal for help

Very weak and dehydrated

May 26, '09 11:49 PM for everyone

Penny didn't have a carrier with her when she saw him just lying there... so she carried him in her arms. He had lost one eye and there was infection.

The cat is now warded at The Animal Doctors and will probably be discharged tomorrow. If anyone would like to help by sponsoring medical expenses please contact Penny at 98556410.

One-eyed cat's dash for stardom

One-eyed cat's dash for stardom

A man has made a film about the adventures of his one-eyed cat, who has a passion for racing.
Martin Humphreys and 12-year-old Midge are regularly spotted racing each other in the village of Wrose, in Shipley, West Yorkshire.

Mr Humphreys hopes the movie will catch the eye of a film director or two when he 'releases' it at Cannes Film Festival, which starts this week.

This is a one-eye tortie like Midge but this one is in Singapore. Do you want to adopt her? Leave your contact under Comments if you wish to give One-Eye Tortie a safe home for the rest of her life.

Singapore ends TNR program amid SARS panic

JUNE 2003
Singapore ends TNR program amid SARS panic

SINGAPORE

"More than 70 cat lovers gathered at a five-star hotel yesterday to remember the 700 cats who were culled recently," the Singapore Straits Times reported on June 9. "The special 80-minute session, which included song and flower tributes, and a minute's silence for the dead animals, was organized by the animal welfare and rescue movement SOS Animals," founded by Sandy Lim.

Palm civet.

Two palm civets, apparently ex-pets, were found abandoned in Singapore after they were identified as the probable native host species for SARS (Kim Bartlett)

SOS Animals claimed to have rescued 60 cats from the purported culling, and was raising funds to build a shelter for them. Another Singapore group, the Animal Lovers League, founded by Cathy Strong, approached the Singapore Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority with a proposal to build a sanctuary capable of keeping 2,000 to 3,000 catswhich she believed could be done for $173,000.

Earler, Strong proposed evacuating as many as 2,000 cats to the Noah's Ark shelter in Johor, Malaysia. Noah's Ark founder Raymond Wee responded that his shelter was already filled to capacity with 320 cats and dogs, while the Johor Veterinary Services Department said that feral cats from Singapore would not be accepted in Malaysia anyway. The four-acre Ericsson Pet Farm boarding kennel in Pasir Ris, Singapore, housed 300 cats on May 23, but had 500 just four days later, with another 100 on the way. Owner Eric Lim was charging panic-stricken cat rescuers $5.00 per cat- day, a third of his usual fee. Driving the frantic effort to find places for cats were reports that the Singapore Centre for Animal Welfare was exterminating TNR colonies in response to SARS.

"Almost 100 stray dogs and cats from the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre were killed when the center was closed for 15 days in April, after three cases of SARS were linked to it," wrote Ben Nadarajan of the Straits Times on May 21. But Centre for Animal Welfare chief Madhavan Kannan told Nadarajan that the Pasir Panjang cats were killed as part of a routine removal of cats from a food-selling location. "Our stand is that there is no evidence that SARS can affect dogs and cats," Madhavan said. Cat Welfare Society president Lynn Yeo was unconvinced. "This could escalate to the culling of thousands of cats," she told NewsAsia reporter Farah Abdul Rahim two days later. Yeo explained that the Cat Welfare Society had spent $60,000 in recent years to sterilize about 5,000 cats whose lives might now be in jeopardy." "We have been receiving numerous calls from volunteers about [sterilized] cats being removed from their habitat," confirmed Singapore SPCA executive officer Deirdre Moss.

"These actions are sending out the wrong message." Reports about dog-culling began circulating parallel to the anxiety about cats when Metta Cattery volunteer Sharon Siow told Tor Ching Li of NewsAsia on May 22 that "the Jurong Town Council was seen loading five vans with stray dogs to be put down a few days ago." "Everything is as normal," Madhavan still insisted. "We are still putting down an average of 10 stray cats and dogs each per day." But Minister of State for National Development Vivian Balakrishnan eroded Madhavan's credibility at a May 24 press conference, admitting that a cull was underway. "It's a public health concern," Balakrishnan declared to Tracy Quek of the Straits Times, adding "There should be no strays, cats, dogs or vermin near or in food establishments, markets, or any other place where food is sold or handled." Balakrishnan told Quek that the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority had suspended its five-year-old feral cat sterilization program, after fixing 10,000 of the estimated 80,000 feral cats in Singapore, "because it had not met its objective of reducing the overall problem of strays," while complaints about feral cats continued to come at the rate of about 5,000 per year.

However, to see any reduction at all in a population of 80,000 cats, it would be necessary to sterilize 70%: 56,000. On May 27 Grace Chua and Sherwin Loh of The Straits Times reported that "The AVA has intensified its daily culling of stray cats, even sterilized cats, from 35 before last Friday to more than 45 now. While the link between domestic animals and SARS has not been shown," Chua and Loh explained, "the AVA said that for environmental and public health reasons town councils are helping to round up stray cats, especially around hawker centers and markets." The Straits Times noted on May 30 that demoralized Cat Welfare Society TNR volunteers were no longer taking cats to private veterinarians to be sterilized, as they formerly had. "What's the point now?" asked volunteer Corinne Goh, 35. "We're not getting any assurance that the strays we sterilize and care for will be spared." Added the anonymous Straits Times reporter, "Stray dogs are not being spared either. About 16 are put down each day, but there has been no increase, unlike for cats."

Despite the many indications that cats and dogs might have been targeted due to the SARS panic, however, it was not clear from the available data that either cats or dogs were actually being killed in higher numbers than in past years. What was clear was that more people were noticing the killing. Killing cats at the rate of 45 a day for an entire year would produce a toll of 16,425, compared to a typical annual toll of between 10,000 and 13,000, between the Singapore SPCA and the AVA. Killing dogs at the rate of 16 a day for a year would bring a toll of 5,840, about half again the average of the past six yearsbut it is routine for animal control agencies all over the world to handle up to 50% of their total volume of animals from April through July.

Controlling the cat population: Owners must also do their part

The Electric New Paper :
Controlling the cat population
Owners must also do their part
WE REFER to the letter 'AVA should provide free sterilisation instead of euthanasia for cats' (The New Paper, 18 May) by Dr Tan Chek Wee.
27 May 2009

WE REFER to the letter 'AVA should provide free sterilisation instead of euthanasia for cats' (The New Paper, 18 May) by Dr Tan Chek Wee.

We understand Dr Tan's concern for stray cats and would like to explain our approach in managing the stray cat situation in Singapore.

The Agri-food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) encourages sterilisation as a way to help prevent the proliferation of strays.

However, this alone is not enough.

Stray cats, whether sterilised or not, can create problems to the public, ranging from nuisance to hygiene concerns.

With an estimated population of 60,000 stray cats in Singapore, it is inevitable that culling has to be carried out, along with sterilisation, to alleviate these problems and keep the stray population in check.

AVA has to balance the interests of cat lovers and those affected by stray cat nuisance.

We loan cat traps to residents troubled by stray cats coming into their premises, and cats that are not owned are euthanised humanely.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind cat owners to sterilise their pets, so as to prevent unwanted litters.

Cat owners should also prevent their pets from wandering and posing a nuisance to their neighbours.

This will, in turn, help to reduce the demand for cat trap loans and the need for euthanasia.

With regards to the Trap Neuter Release scheme mentioned by Dr Tan, AVA had, in 1998, worked with animal welfare groups and town councils to establish the Stray Cat Rehabilitation Scheme (SCRS), under which AVA provided free sterilisation.

This was started as a voluntary scheme which depended on local community support and tolerance towards stray cats.

In 2003, the scheme was discontinued as it did not resolve the problems caused by stray cats, such as cat faeces dirtying the environment and pest problems due to food remnants left by feeders.

It was also observed that there was no reduction in the number of complaints received on stray cats.

Notwithstanding this, AVA, in consultation with the Cat Welfare Society, proposed a stray cat sterilisation programme in March 2007.

AVA would subsidise the cost of the sterilisation of stray cats if the caregivers of stray cats, town councils and the community in the respective precincts agree to participate in the programme.

We thank Dr Tan for his feedback.

GOH SHIH YONG
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
for CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
AGRI-FOOD & VETERINARY AUTHORITY

Singapore Animal Welfare Symposium 2009 II

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Singapore Animal Welfare Symposium 2009 II

The Cat Welfare Society gave a presentation as part of the second panel session on Domestic Animal Welfare. It raised up our community's two main issues - that HDB allow cats to be kept as pets in flats and the reinstatement of the stray cat rehab scheme - amidst positive evidence of the effectiveness of sterilisation and a growing community of cat caregiving and advocacy in Singapore.

Can we make a cat auntie's dream come true?






Since 2004, there has been a year on year drop in the number of cats surrendered and impounded.


Long overdue, these caregivers are starting to receive well-deserved recognition in recent years.


So, what do these community cat caregivers want? They want more eligible homes for community cats. And they want to know that their cats are safe from being indiscriminately caught and culled.


While stray cat population figures show that sterilisation is effective, what it doesn’t do is reduce the number of cat nuisance complaints, which is constantly cited as one of the reasons for resisting cat-friendly policies.


On the ground, there are many parties and their differing concerns to balance when trying to achieve an amicable level of human-animal co-existence. A lot of the resistance to the reinstating of the Stray Cat Rehab Scheme is from the town councils who are skeptical about how the scheme benefits them and also the additional workload that comes with administering the scheme.

(AVA confirmed that if they were to bring the scheme back, it would be in a decentralised form and only with the consent of the town councils.)

It reinforces the point that helping town councils reduce instances of human-cat conflicts is paramount in winning them over. And that is a task that CWS will take up this year. It is making plans to engage HDB, MPs and TCs and call for like-minded people in this community to come forward with inputs and support towards this campaign.




In contrast to the stray cat, stray dogs remain far less tolerated on our streets. The govt still does not recognise the same trap and neuter programme for our canine friends. Yet the pet dog trade trumps the cat anyday.

Singapore being a free market, the govt does not interfere with the market supply of pets from breeders or in pet shops. Many advocates argued that more must be done to curb the supply, especially in the face of a growing number of abandoned pets in Singapore, many more dogs and an alarming number of pedigrees.

This would be music to our ears certainly but as unlikely as it is that the govt will restrict the trade in pet animals, they must at least answer for how well these animal traders are being policed. It became clear that AVA relies on whistleblowing to keep these traders in check.

As the day progressed, several areas of overlap surfaced that animal welfare groups could potentially collaborate on:

1) Allowing more categories of pets to be kept in flats like cats and medium-sized dogs.
2) Regulating the loaning of traps to the public for errant cats and monkeys.
3) Policing of unscrupulous breeding and trading of animals.

To their credit, AVA indicated a willingness to continue the dialogue beyond the symposium on many of the issues raised. One person from the floor said it best. She asked AVA to tell us how we, the animal welfare community, can help them make some of these long-awaited changes a reality. And this is an opportunity that AVA cannot quite afford to pass up.

Students made up a large percentage of the audience at the symposium, many recipients of the animal protectors grant with an impressive showing at the event. These student leaders and activists with a passion for animal welfare are likely to become our next generation of veterinarians and advocates. If AVA wants these future leaders in their fold and not on the opposite side of the table, this is the time to engage them.

And what these students want is the confidence that the govt and its policies can change. More than that, what they want is to lead and inspire the animal welfare and conservation conscience of this country rather than trail behind it. You can just see it in their eyes.

Posted by animalfamily at 12:59 AM

A community cat's tail was wounded and is being treated at a vet clinic

Here's one cat that is well cared for by residents in a HDB estate.
A few days ago, a caregiver discovered a wound in his tail.
With other caregivers helping, this cat is now under the care of a vet.
The wound was stitched up this morning and he will be released to his "community home" once the wound is healed.

Photo taken 6th April 2009

MMS at 11.30am this morning.

Message still not good enough! Why can't it says what is RESPONSIBLE FEEDING!?

Nutro Products Announces Voluntary Recall of Limited Range of Dry Cat Food Products

Franklin, Tennessee (May 21, 2009) -- Today, Nutro Products announced a voluntary recall of select varieties of NUTRO® NATURAL CHOICE® COMPLETE CARE® Dry Cat Foods and NUTRO® MAX® Cat Dry Foods with “Best If Used By Dates” between May 12, 2010 and August 22, 2010. The cat food is being voluntarily recalled in the United States and ten additional countries. This recall is due to incorrect levels of zinc and potassium in our finished product resulting from a production error by a US-based premix supplier.

Two mineral premixes were affected. One premix contained excessive levels of zinc and under-supplemented potassium. The second premix under-supplemented potassium. Both zinc and potassium are essential nutrients for cats and are added as nutritional supplements to NUTRO® dry cat food.

This issue was identified during an audit of our documentation from the supplier. An extensive review confirmed that only these two premixes were affected. This recall does not affect any NUTRO® dog food products, wet dog or cat food, or dog and cat treats.

Affected product was distributed to retail customers in all 50 states, as well as to customers in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Israel. We are working with all of our distributors and retail customers, in both the US and internationally, to ensure that the recalled products are not on store shelves. These products should not be sold or distributed further.

Consumers who have purchased affected product should immediately discontinue feeding the product to their cats, and switch to another product with a balanced nutritional profile. While we have received no consumer complaints related to this issue, cat owners should monitor their cat for symptoms, including a reduction in appetite or refusal of food, weight loss, vomiting or diarrhea. If your cat is experiencing health issues or is pregnant, please contact your veterinarian.

Consumers who have purchased product affected by this voluntary recall should return it to their retailer for a full refund or exchange for another NUTRO® dry cat food product. Cat owners who have more questions about the recall should call 1-800-833-5330 between the hours 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM CST

Buy pet gear and help SPCA

DOGGY BAG: Part of proceeds from the sale of bottle holders and pet
carriers (above) will go to the SPCA. (PHOTO: GLAMOURPUSS)


MY PAPER MONDAY MAY 25, 2009

Buy pet gear and help SPCA

Online store and designer team up to sell pet
furniture, with part of proceeds going to society

DEWI SRIWAHYUTO

THE rising tide of abandoned pets and increasing number of pet owners have spurred an online pet
store, Glamourpuss, and pet furniture designer, Ms Ree-Yong, to raise funds for the Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
Ms Daniela Riccio, who describes herself as the “She-E-O” of Glamourpuss, told my paper:
“After reading about the abandonment figures, it quickly became a big motivation for Glamourpuss and Ree-Yong to join forces and raise awareness and funds for SPCA. As pet lovers at Glamourpuss, and in appreciation of all the volunteers at the SPCA, we wanted to do
something that would help the SPCA.”

Last year, the SPCA took in a total of 8,739 animals. The number includes 2,970 dogs, 4,117 cats and 1,141 small domestic animals, such as rabbits and hamsters.

From May 1 until June 1, 30 per cent of the sales from the Copenhagen Collection by Ms Ree-Yong will go to the society.

The collection includes a dog dinner-set, contemporary dog beds and a trendy pet carrier, while the luxury line for cats comprises a cat condo set which consists of a litter box, a cat bed and a storage box.

Prices range from $15 for a pet bottle-holder to $399 for a bed for a large dog.

Designer Ree-Yong said she wanted the collection to be practical and chose attractive but durable and low-maintenance materials such as imitation leather, washable mock suede and ceramic to build the furniture.

Ms Deirdre Moss, executive officer of SPCA, said: “The pieces look modern and innovative and we are grateful to Glamourpuss and Ree-Yong for pledging to donate part of the proceeds from the sale of their Copenhagen Collection to help SPCA in its animal-welfare services.”

SPCA requires around $2 million annually to comfortably carry out its various animal-welfare services, such as cruelty investigation, 24-hour emergency service for injured and sick animals,
education programme, running the animal shelter and a clinic for the treatment of abandoned pets and strays.

Go to glamourpuss.com.sg to purchase the pet furniture or call Daniela Riccio on 9844-7141 for more information.

Meet Charlie the 'Spider-cat'

A cat that fetches

Avoid the Flu, Go Vegetarian

Dressed in hazardous materials suits, members of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals march to the US Embassy in Manila. Global health chiefs have warned swine flu could soon hit much harder in the world's poorest countries and its spread in Asia was in danger of accelerating with the change of season.


'Subtle, sneaky' swine flu could hit poor nations: WHO

Weekend • May 23, 2009

A WHO specialist pointed out on Thursday that most developing countries were simply not in a position to detect or track seasonal flu, let alone a potentially pandemic strain of swine flu.

But the UN health agency is helping poor countries to develop simplified means of detecting flu, such as by spotting clusters of unusual respiratory illness, a spokesman told AFP.

Most types of flu are more lethal for those who are weakened by other ailments. Poor countries carry the bulk o

Keyboard Cat: An Interview with Brad O'Farrel

AVA should provide free sterilisation instead of euthanasia for cats

The Electric New Paper :
AVA should provide free sterilisation instead of euthanasia for cats
19 May 2009

I KNOW an expatriate who lives in a condominium apartment in a prime district.

She has several neighbours who think that the presence of cats devalues their properties.

These neighbours request free loans of cat traps from the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA).

Cats trapped, whether they are strays or free-roaming pets, are euthanised free at the AVA.

This does not resolve the problem as new cats will move in to fill the vacuum and hence, there is an endless cycle of killing.

This is ironic as there are people like myself who have to borrow traps from the Cat Welfare Society to trap cats in our estates, bring them to the vets for neutering and then release them back to the estate, all at our own expense.

This T(rap)N(euter)R(elease) is an evidence-based method of controlling the cat population, humanely and effectively.

Yet, we failed repeatedly to get AVA to provide free sterilisation at its premises.

If people who live in private estates feel that cats are 'pests', then they should pay for private pest controller services.

I appeal to the AVA to stop this free service that is unfair to taxpayers.

FROM READER DR TAN CHEK WEE

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Advanced Cat Yodeling

Community Cats in Circuit Road Estate