Thursday, December 31, 2009
Kopi-Tortie closed a chapter as a cat who was dearly loved
8th December 2007Read about this well loved community cat called Kopi-Tortie
Lily sms-ed
"Kopi had a 1 minute seizure and passed away at 10.24am"
Lily mms-ed video of Kopi- toti, 1 day after removing a pin from her left hind leg
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Property Officer I spoke to many years ago was afraid that taking action on killer litter would "offend residents"
TODAY
Time for a tougher approach
05:55 AM Dec 30, 2009
I REFER to the recent attention on killer litter. After tens of thousands of warning letters, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) prefers to continue with its soft approach. Must the cycle of another incident-followed-by-public relations continue?
The HDB's wasteful idea to send out almost a million letters to all residents reflects its ignorance. Enough has already appeared in print and another million envelopes will not make any difference to those who have little consideration for others.
Action speaks louder than words. I have a few suggestions on some measures.
- Town councils (TCs), as managers of HDB estates, have to be made accountable for not taking preventive measures. There is no point in having by-laws which are not enforced.
- De-link politics from safety issues (the first Property Officer I spoke to many years ago was afraid that taking action on killer litter would "offend residents") and the result will likely be a killer-litter free environment as seen in private estates.
- Appoint an independent body to survey killer litter objects and take measures to ensure they are permanently removed.
- To show its resolve, the HDB has to take action on a small proportion of repeat offenders. Punitive measures could be incremental. When this becomes the talk of the town, the act of residents removing killer litter will feed on itself. Action has to be taken before, and - not as usual - after an incident has occurred.
- Conduct regular surveys of the situation in different estates and publish the results.
- An objective time frame should be set to reduce the number of killer litter objects and TCs should work towards it consistently instead of on an ad hoc basis.
Is this why Property Officers "prefer" to CULL/KILL cats instead of "offending" residents
1) who are not bound by any HDB's Responsible Pet Ownership Regulations, to keep their home cats indoor and to have them sterilised to avoid abandoning "excessive" cats,
2) who feed cats irresponsibly by counselling them or even fine recalcitrant irresponsible feeders
3) by explaining complaining residents that culling cats have not and will not be effective because of the "vacuum effect" (complainants are not even told that cats are killed as a result of their complaints!)?
Town councils should take preventive measures by
1) Getting the HDB to remove the cat ban that prevents Property Officers from enforcing responsible cat ownership. Instead the Property Officers will refer such irresponsible cat owners to their HDB colleagues who will give the owners the ultimatum of "removing the cats". Such irresponsible owners will simply abandon their cats into the estates, that then become the Property Officers' problem as the cats are now OUTSIDE the HDB flats!
2) Recognise that feeding of cats is a universal human trait and that any "do not feed strays" posters will only encourage "ghost feeding" and explore ways to educate residents who have an interest in community cats to feed responsibly.
Time for a tougher approach
05:55 AM Dec 30, 2009
I REFER to the recent attention on killer litter. After tens of thousands of warning letters, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) prefers to continue with its soft approach. Must the cycle of another incident-followed-by-public relations continue?
The HDB's wasteful idea to send out almost a million letters to all residents reflects its ignorance. Enough has already appeared in print and another million envelopes will not make any difference to those who have little consideration for others.
Action speaks louder than words. I have a few suggestions on some measures.
- Town councils (TCs), as managers of HDB estates, have to be made accountable for not taking preventive measures. There is no point in having by-laws which are not enforced.
- De-link politics from safety issues (the first Property Officer I spoke to many years ago was afraid that taking action on killer litter would "offend residents") and the result will likely be a killer-litter free environment as seen in private estates.
- Appoint an independent body to survey killer litter objects and take measures to ensure they are permanently removed.
- To show its resolve, the HDB has to take action on a small proportion of repeat offenders. Punitive measures could be incremental. When this becomes the talk of the town, the act of residents removing killer litter will feed on itself. Action has to be taken before, and - not as usual - after an incident has occurred.
- Conduct regular surveys of the situation in different estates and publish the results.
- An objective time frame should be set to reduce the number of killer litter objects and TCs should work towards it consistently instead of on an ad hoc basis.
Is this why Property Officers "prefer" to CULL/KILL cats instead of "offending" residents
1) who are not bound by any HDB's Responsible Pet Ownership Regulations, to keep their home cats indoor and to have them sterilised to avoid abandoning "excessive" cats,
2) who feed cats irresponsibly by counselling them or even fine recalcitrant irresponsible feeders
3) by explaining complaining residents that culling cats have not and will not be effective because of the "vacuum effect" (complainants are not even told that cats are killed as a result of their complaints!)?
Town councils should take preventive measures by
1) Getting the HDB to remove the cat ban that prevents Property Officers from enforcing responsible cat ownership. Instead the Property Officers will refer such irresponsible cat owners to their HDB colleagues who will give the owners the ultimatum of "removing the cats". Such irresponsible owners will simply abandon their cats into the estates, that then become the Property Officers' problem as the cats are now OUTSIDE the HDB flats!
2) Recognise that feeding of cats is a universal human trait and that any "do not feed strays" posters will only encourage "ghost feeding" and explore ways to educate residents who have an interest in community cats to feed responsibly.
Story of a community cat now called NeNo
29-12-2009
He is dirty looking.
He looks miserable.
He is, now,the only cat here without a tipped ear.
Yet a middle-aged Chinese lady cared enough for him to tranfer him from an adjacent block to the block where she lives so that she could give him food everyday. This lady is a responsible feeding, always waiting for a few cats to finish the food so that she could clear the leftover.
However, she lacks the means to bring the cats to the vet for neutering and for care of illnesses.
This afternoon at about 1pm, a caregiver who lives in another neighbourhood, met her and asked her to help put him in a carrier as he was wary of stranger.
With the feeder's help, the cat, now named NeNo was brought to a vet for treatment of his gum inflammation. His neuter will also be checked. If already neutered (he appeared to be already sterilised as his testicles were not obvious), his ear will be tipped before he is released back into the neighbourhood. His "manja-ness" with the feeder indicates that he is yet another victim of abandonment!
He is dirty looking.
He looks miserable.
He is, now,the only cat here without a tipped ear.
Yet a middle-aged Chinese lady cared enough for him to tranfer him from an adjacent block to the block where she lives so that she could give him food everyday. This lady is a responsible feeding, always waiting for a few cats to finish the food so that she could clear the leftover.
However, she lacks the means to bring the cats to the vet for neutering and for care of illnesses.
This afternoon at about 1pm, a caregiver who lives in another neighbourhood, met her and asked her to help put him in a carrier as he was wary of stranger.
With the feeder's help, the cat, now named NeNo was brought to a vet for treatment of his gum inflammation. His neuter will also be checked. If already neutered (he appeared to be already sterilised as his testicles were not obvious), his ear will be tipped before he is released back into the neighbourhood. His "manja-ness" with the feeder indicates that he is yet another victim of abandonment!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Thank goodness the cats are not blamed for "human defecation on staircases"!
Cats have been blamed for human faeces and dog poo because the person who complaint do not bother to find out the difference and the town council's property officer is not bothered to find out what kind of poo either. It is "so much easier" to respond with "no problem, we will send the pest controller down to round up the cats!"
When the complainant call again to say the "poo" has recurred, the response will be "no problem, we will send down the pest controller again!" There is no one to audit such property officer on his or her inefficiency for applying the wrong solution and cats cannot protest either!
When the complainant call again to say the "poo" has recurred, the response will be "no problem, we will send down the pest controller again!" There is no one to audit such property officer on his or her inefficiency for applying the wrong solution and cats cannot protest either!
Monday, December 28, 2009
lorong ah soo rescue
lorong ah soo rescue
An Ubi resident went jogging today towards the nearby estate of Lorong Ah Soo. As he passed the monsoon drain he witnessed a cat that was nearly drowning in the flooding waters. Unflinching, he went into the river to save the cat.
The poor kitty was totally wet and covered in mud, but she survived. He brought the cat to Aswat, who bathed and dried her, checked her for injuries or trauma. The cat was well, and surprisingly, for someone who just went through a near-death, was emotionally stable.
We realised that the cat's ear is tipped. Which means that there is a cat feeder or carer in Lorong Ah Soo that may know this cat.
We would like to make an appeal to whoever may be the cat carer of the Lorong Ah Soo estate. If this cat belongs to your estate, please contact Aswat at 9337 8211 / 6748 9810 to claim her as soon as possible.
She is a tabby, youngish at about a year old, with a long tail. She has thick fur with banded ticking of cream, black and lilac grey. Her tabby markings are mostly spotted. Her nose leather is brick red. She is quite manja and open to human contact.
If we cannot find the cat carer of the estate we will be releasing her into the Ubi stray territory where we can keep an eye on her, or re-home her if there are interested adopters.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Still no news of Copperfield
Copperfield ran of the adopter's house in October 2009
AVA has no record of a ginger cat from West Coast Park area.
Friday, December 25, 2009
AVA relaxes pet quarantine rules
AVA relaxes pet quarantine rules
Judith Tan & Kimberly Spykerman
Fri, Dec 25, 2009
The Straits Times
FROM next month, pet owners from Japan, Hong Kong and Norway will be able to bring their animals into Singapore without having to quarantine them.
They join Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland as the handful of territories that do not need to have pets confined for 30 days in case of rabies.
After a comprehensive review of the quarantine policy, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) added the three to the list, having found that their animals posed a relatively low risk of rabies.
Judith Tan & Kimberly Spykerman
Fri, Dec 25, 2009
The Straits Times
FROM next month, pet owners from Japan, Hong Kong and Norway will be able to bring their animals into Singapore without having to quarantine them.
They join Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland as the handful of territories that do not need to have pets confined for 30 days in case of rabies.
After a comprehensive review of the quarantine policy, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) added the three to the list, having found that their animals posed a relatively low risk of rabies.
Visiting Ah-Boy (now named Scotty) who was "imprisoned" in a playpen for about 4 years!
June 2009: He came into this 3-room HDB flat household when he was a puppy about 4 years ago. He was named Ah-BoyHis “master” got married and a year later, a baby girl was born.
The care of the dog was left to the wife as he was busy working to support a wife, a child and two elderly parents.
The child developed running nose problems and the GP attributed it to the presence of the dog.
The dog has since been confined in a small area in kitchen.
4th July 2009: the owners released him for $1,000.
6th July 2009: adopted by Khema
25-12-2009: Home with the family from a stroll at MacRitchie Park
Searching for Nessie/Mani
Posters were put up at Blk 503A and 503B, and 3 people searched floor by floor starting from 12th storey where Nessie/Mani disappeared from
Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 12:25 PM
“She’s missing!! I dun hv a recent photo of her, but she was groomed & shaved & now in between. Her fur’s nt fully grown yet. Sembawang area. Near Sun Plaza. She slipped out of the house on Sun when we had a lot of visitors moving in & out. Pls let me knw if u see her.”
Searched the vicinity of 503A.
Spoke to a Chinese man on #03 of Blk 503A who was watering his plant. He too has not seen any cat during the past week.
Spoke to a Malay man who lives on the ground floor on the block next to Blk 503A and a foreign worker who works there. They have not seen any cat fitting Nessie/Mani's description.
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