The Straits Times
STForum Online
July 14, 2009
Feeding cats is as bad as littering
RECENTLY, there have been many cases of cats being poisoned or abused.
My pet green cheek parrot, which has been with us for two years, is now barely alive, lying in a bowl my children made with old newspapers. It was attacked by stray cats. It lost both legs in the brutal fight.
This is not the first time this has happened to my pets. I have lost two canaries, one sharma and one finch to stray cats.
I have written to my Member of Parliament and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
I borrowed the SPCA's cat traps and caught three cats, but after a while, they got smarter.
I have approached the source of the problem - my neighbour three doors away. I have asked her on many occasions to stop feeding strays.
She is an elderly woman with a kind heart, who feeds the cats twice a day. The cats have increased in number over the years, but not the quantity of food, leaving many of them wandering in the middle of the night in search of food.
I have nothing against cats. I just wish that people who want to keep them as pets would keep them indoors. Feeding strays is nothing more than leaving food on the ground outside your flat. It is similar to littering, which carries a fine of at least $500.
I am curious: If people are fined for feeding monkeys, why can we not do the same with people who feed stray dogs and cats?
Edgar Chen
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