Today
Online Only - MRT staff at Dhoby Ghaut ignored pleas; had no regard for animal welfare
07:10 PM Oct 04, 2009
Letter from Risa Okamoto Mardjuki
At about 9:30 am on Oct 2, I got off the North-East Line at Dhoby Ghaut, and was shocked to see a small cat stuck on one side of the escalator that leads up from the platform. It was crouched on the small silver ledge outside the handrails, about 4 m above the platform below. I notified the the control gate, and the staff there said they were aware of it.
Because I saw no MRT staff monitoring the situation, I returned to it to track its movements until help came.
The cat was clearly in distress, panting heavily and meowing. After about 10 minutes, the cat jumped down and fled to a small corner on the platform. I stayed beside it to make sure it would not get trampled, but it was extremely scared.
After 5 minutes, an MRT staffer came. He said that Pest Control was on its way. I decided to stay there until they came, intending to convince them to give me the cat as I can find a home for it.
However, a few moments later, a cleaning lady approached carrying a plastic garbage bag and a wooden stick. She said that she would put the cat in the bag and bring it upstairs. I reasoned with her and the MRT staff member that there is no way a panicked cat (or any other cat) can be contained in a plastic bag.
The cleaning lady kept insisting strongly, and approaching the cat. Then, an off-duty cleaner came by, and the cleaning lady gave him the plastic bag, telling us that he could put the cat in the plastic bag. I pleaded with the MRT staff member to not let them do this, because it was obvious that it would just distress the cat further. However, the MRT staff member allowed the cleaner to pursue the cat with the plastic bag. The cat panicked, and jumped up and down against the wall. It then fled to the end of the platform, towards the Security Door. The MRT staff member opened the door, and the cat went through. There, it leaped up into a small drain, which led directly onto the train tracks.
A train was approaching. The MRT staff member had a walkie-talkie and I thought that he might be able radio someone to stop the train so we could see where the cat had gone.
Instead, he went upstairs to the control gate. I followed him, but during that time, a train came and went. When he entered the control gate, I asked him what he was going to do. He had no answer. I called the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) who called both Dhoby Ghaut station and the SMRT head office to try to stop the trains temporarily so Pest Control or SPCA could go in to find the cat. Their appeals were declined.
The death of this cat could easily have been avoided. It simply required common sense and patience - sorely lacking in the actions of the MRT staff. Their lack of compassion and complete disrespect for life make me ashamed to put my own safety in their hands every time I ride the train.
I'm also disappointed that of the hundreds of commuters that passed by, nobody stopped to try to help. Perhaps if even a few had told them to leave the cat alone until help came, and to not put it in a garbage bag, this story would have had a different outcome.
It's easy not to care, easier to turn away and think that somebody else will solve the problem. What a sad society we live in now, that the priority is to rush to the office to sit at a desk, instead of taking a chance at saving a helpless animal's life.
