 |
If
you are a animal lover and would like to help the stray
cats in Tiong Bahru, get in touch with Bella Leong Lee
Moy at 272 6983. Already she has trapped most of the
strays in Kim Tian for sterilisation. Now she feeds
them every morning and takes them to the vet for treatment
whenever necessary. All at her own cost!
|
Last year animal lovers were given permission to care for
the estimated 200 stray cats living in Bukit Merah View, provided
they fed them in approved areas and made sure that uneaten
food and litter was properly cleaned up. And that they caught
the cats for the PPD to sterilise.
After sterilisation the PPD vet clipped 6 to 10mm off the
tip of the left ear of each cat for identification. After
a little recuperation, the clipped, sterilised cats were returned
to their territory.
"Catch-sterilise-return"
The Town Council and PPD supported the
trial not only because "catch-sterilise-return"
is a more humane way of dealing with stray cats, but also
because it is far cheaper in the long run.
It costs about $20 to have a cat caught and destroyed. Unfortunately
the cat-catchers only work by day and only catch the easy
ones - the tame and sick cats and kittens.
The ones that are difficult to catch are left and they continue
to multiply. What's more, when a cat is removed, it is replaced
by other cats.
Cat-Killing costs $120,000 p.a.
In spite of spending about $120,000 annually since 1981 to
destroy about 6,000 cats per year, the cat population has
stayed the same - and the number of complaints has stayed
steady at 4,000 annually.
By spending the same amount of money on sterilisation, with
the help of animal lovers, the cat population can be controlled
effectively and humanely. And if pet cats are also sterilised,
over time, controlling the cat population will be cheaper,
easier and less of a problem.
The animal lovers make the big difference. Only they are willing
to spend the time and patience needed to catch all the strays
in a neighbourhood. In Bukit Merah View, they sent 270 cats
for sterilisation.
The Council estimates that to be 90% of all cats in the area.
The kittens included in the unsterilised 10% will be done
when they are old enough.
A survey in Bukit Merah View showed that residents were generally
happy with results of the trial. A big majority wanted the
cat population controlled, but most said they were happy to
have a few well-cared-for-sterilised cats around their blocks.
1999 September - The Window
|
