The Electric New Paper :
FEEDING STRAYS
Blame owners who dump pets
16 June 2010
I REFER to the letter 'Feeding stray cats and dogs adds to problems' from reader Tan Tuan Khoon (The New Paper, June 9).
The letter said that 'it is likely that the strays were previously pets disposed of by their owners'.
If that is true, I suppose the people who should be blamed are these owners who disposed of their pets and not those who feed the strays.
Why should we penalise the feeders when they are devoting their time, effort and money to prepare and feed these stray animals?
Instead, we should thank them because they make our society a better one.
I agree that when feeding strays, the area should be kept clean to ensure a pest-free environment.
But disallowing the feeding of strays will not stop the problem.
Strays will still exist because irresponsible owners abandon their pets and not all animals are sterilised.
All those who are thinking of buying pets, please think twice. They require your attention and love. Please do not buy them just because they are adorable in their infancy.
And if you do not like animals, that does not gives you the right to abuse them or be unkind to them.
To solve this problem, we must get to its root and that is to educate people about responsibility.
We should also have a sterilisation programme to stop strays from reproducing.
Stop culling, start sterilising. Stop puppy mills. Adopt and save a life. Be responsible.
READER JASMINE K
