Same OLD template reply from AVA

See this posting

From: Hon Mun WONG <WONG_Hon_Mun@ava.gov.sg>
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:05:20 +0800
To: ******

Dear *****

I refer to your email of 18 Nov 09 to the CEO of AVA.

We would like to inform you that as a public service, the AVA offers the loan of cat traps only to residents who are troubled by stray cats going into their premises. Nevertheless the borrower is advised to contact the Centre for Animal Welfare and Control (CAWC) of AVA for the prompt collection of any cats trapped and not to set the trap on Friday, Saturday and the eve of a public holiday.

Furthermore the borrower is informed that it is an offence to subject an animal to cruelty and to ensure any animal trapped is not subject to ill-treatment or injury. Should you have any evidence of any ill treatment or cruelty to stray cats trapped by a resident, please inform us. We will not hesitate to take action against the offender. The penalty is a fine of up to $10,000 and/or up to 12 months jail.

It will be very much appreciated if you could help convey this message to your fellow bloggers and friends. I would like to emphasise that AVA does not condone any animal cruelty acts.

Thank you.

Best regards

Dr Wong Hon Mun | Deputy Director | Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority
Tel +65 63257837 | Fax +65 62206068 | Website www.ava.gov.sg


To: Hon Mun WONG
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2009 6:32 PM
Subject: Re: Objection of Free Loan of Cat Trap & Free Euthanasia to Private Property Owners

Dear Dr Wong,

Thank you for your email. I appreciate the time you have taken to respond to my queries.

However, one of my main points was that regardless or whether the use of traps was cruel, I am concerned as a taxpayer that funds are being used in a manner that does not maximise cost efficiency.

I quote from my initial email:

"AVA's funds would be better utilised for proper control of stray populations via sterilisation efforts. AVA should reconsider reinstating the practice of offering free - if not subsidised - sterilisation of stray animals, a method which has time and time again proven to be effective at maintaining and reducing population of stray animals."

As a taxpayer, I do not agree with the use of my - and my fellow citizens' - funds being utilised, firstly, to provide free services for private estate home-owners, and secondly, to capture and cull stray animals.

Most of all, I am aware that there are more efficient manners of addressing the root cause rather than the symptoms of the problem at hand. Perhaps AVA could let me know if there are current review of policies to look into reinstating subsidies or full reimbursement of sterilisation efforts to prevent reproduction of the current stray population, hence allowing for a decline and control of the population.

Like many property owners and AVA, I too am hoping that there can be better means of control of stray populations. Nevertheless, I do not condone nor do I want my funds to be used for loan of traps and euthanasia for private property owners. First of all, should they wish to resort to the aforementioned methods, they should have the ability to contact private animal handlers or pest controllers at their own cost, rather than tap on the collective funds of taxpayers. Secondly, research has constantly shown the relative effectiveness of neutering methods for the current population, and I would much prefer for my funds to be redirected to initiatives that address the root cause (proliferation of strays) rather than merely scratch the surface of the problem and providing a stop-gap measure (via euthanasia).

It would be great if AVA could advise on the matter as to whether there are reviews currently underway to look at reinstating the previous policy of providing subsidies for sterilisation efforts please.

Thank you once again for your attention and I look forward to hearing from you soon.



Warm regards,

ML

An adopted community cat called Bengal Boy (almost KILLED by AVA for "wrongful" capture by the town council!

Story of Bengal-Boy

30th December 2003: Bengal-boy was sterilised this morning. The staff of the clinic said he was a bengal-cross. He was released back into the community.

5th April 2004: Tommie and Bengal have gone missing for the last three days. I hope they were adopted. This is the inescapable impermance of all phenomena in this existence. I will live with the joy that our connection, even if it were only for a few month, will continue into a future time. We will meet again.

8th April 2004: Last evening, Sharifah told me that clip-ear cats surrended to AVA by Pest Control companies were keep in the holding room for some time. So I gave AVA a call this morning and to my horror, two cats in AVA matched the description of Bengal and Tommie (more certain was Bengal with his distinctive strips). They were caught from around Blk xxx, xxx and xxx. I was told that a Malay family would be going to claim 5 cats from this area. When I arrived at AVA, Pasir Panjang, two youngish elder Malay ladies were waiting there with a young man in his 20s. I identifed Bengal Boy easily. Tommie-boy was kept with two cats in another cage. I wasn’t so sure of Tommie and a staff of AVA had to bring him out to confirm his sex. The Malay family told me that 3 cats have already been brought back to xxx and they had prepared to bring back these two as well until they were told that I would be coming to claim them as well. The ladies said that their daughter was very upset when the cats were missing and she kicked up a row with the officers in the Town Council. I was shown a letter written by the Town Council to CWS that the 5 cats were caught around the blocks indicated above could be released back to the estate “provided they do not become a nuisance”. My guess was that the complaint on which Town Council had acted was not traced to the blocks where the cats were caught! Hence the cats were allowed to be released back to the place where they were found, rather than be microchipped and released to a “private residential address”.
Without the law protecting the cats, they are constantly at the mercy of human beings who do not care a hoot of any cat. Tame sterilised cats are easy “sitting ducks” for the pest control workers to finish their task fast so as to collect $20 per cat.
I wrote to the town council to “thank” them for releasing the cats and to avail myself to their service in meditating any complaints of the cats around my block and the next.
I left some dry food at the usual feeding place at about 6pm. Patchie and Dolly were around. Bengal-boy and Tommie did not appear until I brought down some wet food at about 7.15pm. I fed Bengal and Tommie again at about 10pm. Bengal was sneezing but he was eating.

22nd April 2004 7pm: Bengal still sniffles. I saw him scratching himself more than I would expect of a healthy cat. I saw a small bald patch on his head.
When I reached the car park at Blk xxx at about 9.45pm after the Yoga Class, Bengal and a few other regular cats were at the feeding area. He responded to my call and came to sit beside me on the edge of the drain. I fiddled with the Revolution before I managed to plunged the cap into the vial to break the nozzle. I caught hold of Bengal by his nape and he went into a submissive crouching position, long enough for the whole content of the vial to be squeezed onto the skin.

29th June 2004: 7.45pm: Got him into a carrier after his “makan”. From the backseat of the car, Bengal-boy meowed softly in protest.
8.00pm: Adopter arrived and we set off for xxx. Bengal-boy was quiet from xxx to xxx. 8.30pm: He meowed softly as he was coaxed out of the carrier. He hid beneath the bed.
8.45pm: Adopter sms-ed to say that he came out from beneath the bed and was exploring his new environment.

30th June 2004: Bengal gave a welcome puddle on the bed after controlling for more than 12 hours! The FIP test was very weakly positive. Vet explained that this meant the chance of Bengal having FIP was very remote. So Bengal is not going back to the streets! Hurray!

3rd July 2004: Bengal received his vaccination.

From: adopter
Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2004 2:06 PM
Hi:)
I’ll pass u some when i get a digicam but no worries yea!! he’s loved by both of us:)
i’ll tell u some funny incidents ya so that u won’t lose contact with him.
Lately, he’s been sleeping on the bed at night and sometimes on top of us. I love him so much until I cannot tahan. He so smart and handsome:P
He pees and shits only when i’m at home..and he makes sure that all the stuff is covered b4 he leaves the litter box.
He likes to sleep on the cabinet by the window and suns himself. And he stops climbing grills now. His favourite pastime is looking down on the street from the window. Did i tell u he likes to kiss us in the morning? When i leave for work I have no worries abt him misbehaving cos he is never naughty.
ok enough abt my baby.

From: ST (another cat-giver)
Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2004 7:42 PM
I’m so relieved to know that Bengal Boy has been adopted by a good family! I call him Pringles, and he has always been one of my favourites! You see, whenever I go to the other blks, he would follow me. Except when I go to xxx as I do not allow him to cross the road. Apart from that, he follows me around everywhere and more than often my fiance, Jason and I spend hours playing with them in the night. I really miss him very much and must admit that it is truly heart wrenching to see his pix. He truly is a lovely cat, active & playful! We were planning to bring him and some others back home with us once we got our own place in two years, but now he has all our well wishes. It is not easy for me to let him go but part and parcel of life…..sigh
Yes indeed when he returned from AVA, the two (Bengal-boy and Tommie ) had a nasty cold. I fed them cough and cold syrup daily. I was cuddling them both for a good week in the nights till wee hours of the morning as they seemed so insecure and scared. I too attended to that bald spot you mentioned. I really miss him!

Thx for letting me know his whereabouts!
Recently I have had a pretty bad scare! After one of my babies died and seeing Dixie aka Billie-boy (the white with gray patches) & Patchy got sick. They must have taken something poisonous! (Dixie is male but I mistook him for a female but somehow he doesn’t want to respond to any other name.) I wasn’t gonna take it lying down especially when I just lost a cat 2 days piror to that! So I fed him charcoal tablets and it worked! 2 days after, I found Hobbles(Patchy) sick too!!! After 4days of medication, they finally are eating as normal now. Maybe you can inform the other feeders about the remedy of charcoal tablets. The pet shop has confirmed that those we buy at the pharmacy and pet shops are of the same make. After watching many documentary films, I am even more convinced that charcoal is a natural remedy that animals take for posioning and indigestion.
So honestly, some selfish side within is extremely reluctant to part with Dixie. I understand that you are trying to re-homing him. However I recognised the fact that it would be dangerous not to as it will be 2 yrs from now till I get my own place. My parents are totally against the idea of me bring them home. Especially after my dog’s demise as my mom do not wanna go thru it anymore.

From: Diane
Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 9:02 AM
He doesn’t struggle when I bathe him. He did when he had his 1st bath in my home but now he’s so obedient and just lets me scrub him clean. He, however, hates it when i scrub his hind legs and his bum…he’s quite anal about me touching that part of his body.
I noticed that Bengal-boy is quite territorial recently tho. Lately, he’s been very vocal abt my landlady’s cats coming into the room. He used to let them but now he swipes them especially when they climb onto the bed to be with me. They also like to use his litter and eat his food u see. So i think, he has tolerated enough.

Here’s his latest photo taken on 24th April 2006 (the feline family has grown!)

Loving Animals

Loving Animals

October 21, 2009

The following is a compilation of messages composed by Tsem Tulku Rinpoche on Twitter. Follow Rinpoche on Twitter to receive these and more... LIVE!

Loving Animals

Entertaining the idea of becoming vegetarian? It's not a big step or a difficult step BUT A NECESSARY STEP. Eating meat is like cigarettes and alcohol; you get an immediate 'satisfaction' or high, and then NOTHING.

You definitely want to do the right thing. And the right thing doesn't hurt you or return to you in a bad way. Just be kind and stop eating animals who also have the right to live. JUST DO IT. INSPIRE OTHERS TO DO IT. I request you and beg you to go ahead and go VEGETARIAN. I don’t want to sound pushy, but just passionate about it.

I'm now in process of looking for land to start an animal shelter. It is very exciting. We are acquiring our first land tortoise. It was in small cage at pet shop. When I saw photos of it, it broke my heart. He likes to run around on the grass, eat greens and have shelter from rain so we are in the process of making that for him. We dedicate it that we can do much more for animals in future. Please encourage others to save animals.

For your beloved pets, or animals you come across, it is very beneficial to recite the Medicine Buddha mantra (TAYATHA OM BEKANZE BEKANZE MAHA BEKANZE BEKANZE RANDZA SAMUGATHE SOHA) loud enough so that they can hear, and then blow on them gently. You can do this everyday or whenever. Same procedure for Namgyalma's mantra (OM DROOM SOHA) which is very benefical as well. You can also do Manjushri (OM AH RA BA TSA NA DHI) and Tara's mantra (OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA), they are also very beneficial. If convenient, it is good to place consecrated stupas / lam rim books on their heads.

Blessed mani pills can be soaked in water, so that a little can be added to their drinking water. If you have fish, mantras can be blown onto the surface of the water. Mani pill-blessed water can be added to the fish tank as well, just a few drops is okay. By blowing mantras on animals, reciting mantras for them to hear, blessing them with mani pill water, putting precious objects on their heads, etc – all of this will help to plant precious blessed karmic seeds in their mindstreams so in the future, the seeds will open, affording them a rebirth with capabilities to practise Dharma.

Since you love your pets or feel compassion for animals, this is good way to help them and plant seeds. Whenever I have a chance, I would go to places where animals were to be slaughtered. I would go to recite mantras for them to hear. I felt terrible that these animals were going to be slaughtered and I couldn’t do anything about it, so I would recite mantras for them. Hopefully, I planted seeds in their mindstreams that would blossom or be triggered to open at a later date.

My pet dog, Yogi, gets mantras blown on him nearly everyday. Sometimes I will blow mantras on his foods before he eats. That helps also. This is a good way to bless our pets that we love. I am worried about my Yogi and what will happen to him when he dies so the best is this for him. This is also the best for all animals, which deserve our pity. So take the time to recite and blow the mantras recommended to bless their minds for a better rebirth in the. future. That is my wish which I share with you all. Much love, care and request to help animals / bless them. Thank you all very much.

#TsemTulku

Follow Tsem Tulku Rinpoche on Twitter for more daily musings ... LIVE!

Human beings are INTENTIONALLY DIRTY - garbage-bin is barely ONE metre away!

One of the Joy of Living with Cats is to see them feeling Totally Secure!

Objection of Free Loan of Cat Trap & Free Euthanasia to Private Property Owners

To:

Ms Tan Poh Hong (tan_poh_hong@ava.gov.sg)
Chief Executive Officer
Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA)

Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 11:01 AM
Subject: Objection of Free Loan of Cat Trap & Free Euthanasia to Private Property Owners


Dear Ms Tan,

Objection of Free Loan of Cat Trap and Free Euthanasia of Cat to Private Property Owners

I am writing with regards to AVA's current practice of providing free loans of cat traps to private property owners, as well as the subsequent free euthanasia of captured cats to the said owners as well. I refer to your notice Ref no C/03 - http://internet-stg.ava.gov.sg/form/cat%20traps1.pdf

I would like to register my dismay and firm objection to this practice. As a tax-payer and a Singapore citizen, I find it abhorrent that such a practice is done at my expense without any agreement on my part. Leaving aside issues of whether euthanasia is a humane or cruel act, I am aghast that this practice is done at taxpayers' expense, when more cost-effective means of controlling populations of strays via the trap-neuter-return-maintain method are available.

While AVA has stated in your notice that "it is an offence to subject an animal to cruelty", the fact remains that because of the construction of these traps, it is not uncommon for animals to be injured (sometimes fatally) by the traps themselves.

I have also encountered instances of these traps used by individuals who left the cat and trap in the sun, thus subjecting the animal to immense discomfort and could be construed as cruelty inflicted to the said animal. Please see this link on Facebook for more information:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=165907&id=185453072387#/album.php?aid=165907&id=185453072387























I would strongly urge AVA to take into account the unhappiness and grievances of taxpayers and citizens opposed to this practice of free loans of cat traps and euthanasia. While I fully agree that the population of strays should be controlled, I feel that we should pay heed to research and studies proving that culling results in a vacuum effect in the population, and engenders new stray colonies to move into the same space.

Rather, AVA's funds would be better utilised for proper control of stray populations via sterilisation efforts. AVA should reconsider reinstating the practice of offering free - if not subsidised - sterilisation of stray animals, a method which has time and time again proven to be effective at maintaining and reducing population of stray animals.

Thank you for your kind attention and I look forward to hearing from you soon.


Yours faithfully,
ML

LAPD enlists feral cats for rat patrol

PROVIDER: Officer Sandra Magdaleno, who feeds and cares for the Southeast station cats, can describe each of her elusive crew: two black cats, two gray and whites, a tabby and a huge gray bruiser who hissed at everyone while in the cages where the cats acclimate. (Bob Chamberlin / LAT)


The felines have been introduced, to great effect, at several stations with rodent problems. Parker Center may get them too.

By Carla Hall

Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

December 29, 2007
Learn the trick

They are the homeless of the domestic animal world -- colonies of feral cats that roam residential neighborhoods and lurk around office buildings and commercial garages, scavenging for food.

Unlike other strays that might rub up against a leg hoping for a crumb or a head rub, these felines are so unaccustomed to human contact that they dart away when people approach. Feral cats cannot be turned into house pets. When they end up in municipal shelters, they have little hope of coming out alive.

But one animal welfare group has figured out a way to save their lives and put them to work in Los Angeles. The Working Cats program of Voice for the Animals, a Los Angeles-based animal advocacy and rescue group, has placed feral cats in a handful of police stations with rodent problems, just as the group placed cats in the rat-plagued downtown flower district several years ago -- to great effect.

Six feral cats were recently installed as ratters in the parking lot of the Los Angeles Police Department's Southeast Division, and another group will be housed at the Central Division early in the new year.

Their reputation as furtive and successful exterminators grew after feral cats were introduced to the parking lot of the Wilshire Division nearly six years ago. Rats had been burrowing into the equipment bags that bicycle officers stored in outside cages; inside the facility, mice were sometimes scurrying across people's desks.

"Once we got the cats, problem solved," said Cmdr. Kirk Albanese, a captain at the Wilshire station at the time. "I was almost an immediate believer."

After Albanese moved to the Foothill Division in the northern San Fernando Valley, he introduced feral cats to the building's mice-infested basement in 2004.

"I think it's a very humane way to deal with a very stubborn problem," said Albanese, now assistant to the director in the office of operations at Parker Center, which has its own rat problem.

The cats don't generally solve the rodent problem by killing rats and mice -- although the cats are game for doing so if they catch them. Rather, the cats simply leave their scent. Once rodents get a whiff of feline presence, like gangsters under a gang injunction, they move on.

"It's the smell of the cat and the cat urine," said animal rescuer Jane Garrison, a member of Voice for the Animals' board, who selected the half dozen feral cats for the Southeast station.

Less grisly than glue traps -- and usually more effective -- the cats go about their "work" naturally: "They prowl, they eat, they sit in the sun," said Melya Kaplan, founder and director of Voice for the Animals, who was responsible for putting cats in the flower markets.

Sometimes they rest under police cars or on top of the warm car hoods. When the cats are new to an area -- as they are at Southeast -- they spend much of their time hiding from view.

"They've got to play it safe and see if they're OK," said Southeast Officer Sandra Magdaleno, who feeds and cares for the cats.

Magdaleno, who has been rescuing animals for 25 years, can describe each of her elusive crew: two black cats, two gray and whites, a tabby and a huge gray bruiser who hissed at everyone during his days in the holding cages that the cats are confined to while they acclimate. When his cage was opened, the big bad boy timidly looked out.

"He jumped out of the cage and looked around, then he heard a car and jumped back in," said Magdaleno.

"You're like the cat whisperer," Officer Mark Miraglia deadpanned.

Garrison worked with two shelters to select the most feral cats possible. (If a cat suddenly gets friendly, the animal is pulled from the pool and, with any luck, is adopted.) The cats were then spayed or neutered, vaccinated, micro-chipped and ear-tipped (under anesthesia while the cats are being altered, vets notch an ear tip, the widely recognized sign that a cat is altered).

Then the cats were moved to the Southeast Division, put in large wire holding cages and housed in a shed for a month for the process of re-colonizing.

"You can't just take feral cats and put them in one location and expect them to stay," Kaplan said. "A feral cat will kill himself trying to get back to his old location."

According to Garrison, it takes about 30 days for a feral cat to be comfortable enough to consider a new location home turf.

Garrison said the Working Cats program can be used anywhere. "We are willing to put cats in any safe area -- businesses, hotels, industrial parks, even residences -- and we will do that for free."

Soon the ferals may get a chance to work their magic on the legions of rats that make their home behind Parker Center. "They're coming out of everywhere," said Officer April Harding, who works in media relations. "One time I stood in the parking lot and just watched in horror, like it was a movie."

Thom Brennan, commanding officer of facilities management for the LAPD, said he was still figuring out the logistics of placing cats at Parker Center. "Nobody was more skeptical about it than I was," he said. "It sounds like too easy a fix. But everywhere it's been done, it's worked. . . . I think I'm convinced it's a viable program that will help us."

At Southeast, the cats were released from their cages in late November. They hide themselves in the station's expansive parking lot, which is dotted with storage sheds, trees and bushes, not to mention dozens of cars under which to slink.

Magdaleno has a knack for spotting the felines. On a recent crisp afternoon, she spied one sunning itself against a wall behind a police cruiser. But like a celebrity in a reclusive mood, the feline dashed away as soon as a photographer trained a long lens on it. The officer pointed toward another row of cars; within minutes, a sleek black cat with yellow eyes trotted across the parking lot glancing in the direction of its watchers without breaking stride.

Magdaleno keeps the feeding station well-stocked with wet and dry food. Initially the cat installers brought provisions. Now it falls to the officer to buy food, which costs her more than $100 a month.

"That is a glitch right now," Kaplan said. "I'm working with the LAPD to put that in their budget."

But Magdaleno is so devoted to the cats that during a recent vacation, she drove back to the station from her home in Temecula -- where she lives with three dogs, two cats, three cockatiels and one husband -- to check on the ferals.

She gets some teasing from colleagues, who, nonetheless, have a penchant for rescuing animals in the area.

"I'm more of a dog guy," said Miraglia, "but I try not to hit the cats when I drive out. Does that count?"

Albanese said there has never been a shortage of people willing to care for the cats at any station where he has worked.

"If I were a wild cat, that would be a great job," he said. "Your meals are there, your housing is there, you're at a police station so you're safe."

For more information on "working" feral cats, go to http://vftafoundation.org/workingcats.htm.

carla.hall@latimes.com