| Accountability in the use of the Town Council's fund | by miow-miow3 for everyone |
When I was a kid, I saw a lady held a stray puppy upside down with one hand and hit it with a stick held in the other hand. The crime? A mouthful of rice the puppy stolen from a bowl of rice she left on the doorstep of her groundfloor flat while she went searching for her son. The image and the whining are deeply etched in my consciousness. A part of my heart opened to the plight of animals and hence I now spend much of my after-work involved in animal welfarism.
Although such frank abuse of an animal is no longer publicly tolerable, abuses of animals have now taken on a greater scale. This is evident as I read Dawn Kua (Director of Operations of the Cat Welfare Society)'s blog. No longer does a person needs to hit a stray with a stick. All he or she needs is a phone call to the Town Council and if luck is not on the side of animals, then luck goes to the pest control company.
One recent example I read on the blog is about a lady who called to complain that cats have been making noise the last few nights and that she cannot sleep and as a result she is getting sick. The town council officer acceded to her request to have “all the cats removed without giving the opportunity to a volunteer and the Cat Welfare Society to help resolve the problem because the complainant refused to speak to them. The officer was feeling the “high pressure of a demanding resident. Blindly rounding up cats and sending them to their death at the AVA is grossly cruel and a waste of public fund.
In the recent calls by residents for accountability in the use of the Town Council's fund in the construction of physical structures, may we also not ask for accountability on the use of the fund for paying pest control companies when cost-free solutions can be found?
Perhaps it is time Town Councils lay down the etiquette for complaints from residents. Just like letters to the press, name, address and contact number must be provided as a bona fide requirement, complainants must also agree to provide details before any action is taken. This will reduce the high pressure on the officers and also help to conserve residents' fund that can be put to better use such as upgrading lifts to stop on every floor. Where issues on animals are concerned, may I suggest a uniformity in Town Councils' problem-solving protocol to seek the advice of animal welfare organisations and to work with resident-volunterers. Then perhaps I can tell some of friends that there is no longer a need to pray for an animal-friendly Town Council officer whenever they have to move to a new estate.
On a personal side, I have the privilege of living with canine and feline companions. I learn that they are capable of a wide range of human emotions, from being happy to being fearful, far more than even some normal human beings.I am only just beginning to understand the vocalization of the three cats that I rescued from the streets over the last few years.
It wasn't too long ago that we abused our own species based on their their skin colours and cultural difference interpreted as lesser intelligence, thereby justifying slavery and genocide. These atrocities are now labelled racism and are no longer acceptable.
However we continue to abuse animals because they are not homosapiens. This is specism. When will we deem this as unacceptable?
I appeal to the Government to use sterilization as a mean of controlling the population of the stray animals, instead of continuing the daily killing of 30-40 cats at the AVA every day for the past few decades.
