DJs' remarks on stray cats not funny and irresponsible

The letter I wrote in to ST Forum has been published online.

ST: 4 cats found dead - 3 with stab wounds

Another 4 cats have been found dead in Pasir Ris, bringing the death toll to 7 felines since May 2nd.

Of the 4, 3 were found in Pasir Ris Town Park yesterday, within 50m of one another and with abdominal puncture wounds.

The 4th cat was found nearby, in an open field near Blk 536. It had a fractured jaw.

It had no other observable wounds, and it is not known whether its death was related to that of the other 3.

The SPCA, alerted to the deaths, said the wounds on the 3 in the park were stab wounds, not the result of dog bites.

On May 2nd, 3 cats were found in Pasir Ris Street 21, doused with what is believed to be thinner. Two died and the 3rd was eventually put down as a result of its injuries.

The SPCA is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the person or persons involved in this spate of cat deaths.

The SPCA may be contacted on 6287-5355, Extension 9.

- The Straits Times - Tuesday, May 13 2008

A responsible act of kindness should be fine, not fined.

Here's what I think on Radio DJs made tasteless remark on cats:

One does not joke about the sufferings of the others, whether humans or animals. I do not find the DJs' comments at all funny. In fact, I think the "jokes" were distasteful, uneducated and reflects the lack of empathy and basic respect for other lives. Very appalled, very disgusted.

What is wrong with kindness for the homeless animals? Kindness and benevolence are open to all, not just human beings. Is there such thing as "selective kindness"?

If I were to give money to a homeless human begger so he could buy food to fill his empty stomach, should I be fined and ridiculed? I cannot possibly be giving money to a cat, can I? If cats know how to use the money to buy food, then perhaps, we run the risk of being sent to Peru instead.

A responsible act of kindness should be fine, not fined.

The pest control strikes again

The pest control strikes again.

This morning, I received this disheartening message. Areas first hit was Sunplaza and 400+. Apparently, a feeder stop them somewhat and they moved on. TC denied activating from what I understand.

When is this vicious, unproductive cycle going to end?

I forwarded the info to my neighbours and fellow caregivers, hoping they'll keep an eye and count on their charges. Most of the cats at my area are collared and tagged with contact details. I hope the pest control - if they do come by - hesitates - about trapping them.

It really irates me that despite the voluntary efforts we put into sterilising and caring for the homeless four-leggeds, there are still human beings who are so unfeeling and unappreciative. Whatever happened to their hearts?

My heart cries ...

When will cruelty cease?

When can we learn to respect all lives?

When can we live and let live?

When can we have more love, less bitterness?

These sufferings...

These inhumane acts...

When will we stop channeling our anger or tedium on the homeless, defenceless and voiceless?

When can we be proud to truly call ourselves HUMAN?

My heart cries.

Farewell little one, I'm sorry I couldn't stop whoever did what was done to you.

I can only hope, and pray, that justice will prevail.

:( :( :( :(

http://www.spca.org.sg/SPCAAppeal.pdf

Fuming!

My blood pressure just shot sky high after reading this article.

My heartbeat rate doubled.

My temperature tripled.

I am fuming!

Taking anger or unhappiness out on the defenceless and voiceless is such an ABHORRENT and COWARDLY act.

What is the problem here?!

EXCUSE me, feeding is NOT illegal.

"EXCUSE me, I don't think I can agree with what you've just said cos No. 1, at least there are people who are kind enough to bother. I feed. I sterilise. I pay. My time. My money. My compassion. Being kind is not illegal. If the feeders do feed and not clean up, blame the human not the cats.

No. 2, it is so uneducated to think that just because we love cats, we want them around. On the contrary, because we love them, we want them off the harsh streets. You have two kids, I am assuming u love children somewhat. If u love them, do u want to see them suffer on the streets? I don't think so.

No. 3, the next time you try and argue, maybe you ought to do some research and get your facts right first. You forgot you are dealing with someone who is rather active in the matter of discussion and that this someone is reasonably educated, has a mind of her own, dare to speak out and not some auntie from the older generation (I almost said - your mother's generation) who gets bullied just because you speak English, work for the government and stay in landed property.

No. 4, if you would like, I would be more than happy to supply info on this so that you do not continue feeding wrong info to the others, especially your children. It'll be a shame."

- me to someone who had my blood boiled with "feeding the cats is illegal and encourage them to populate. Such a nuisance." He asked for it.

Have yourself a very Meowy Christmas! - Santa Paws

A very touching Christmas ballad for you & your loved ones. I was very touched listening to this song. As we celebrate this festive occasion, let us spread more love & warmth to those who need them. May there be love, peace & hope. HAPPY CHRISTMAS.

And So This is Christmas - Gloria Estefan, Celine Dion & Charlotte Church


From all of us.
Celeste, G, Snowy, Nana, Oren & clan.

Cats on cars

Cats resting on cars is one of the most common complaints received.

Anyone has any suggestion how to prevent the cats from resting on cars?

BBC NEWS: Cat's daily routine baffles owner

A cat is baffling his owner by wandering off at night before expecting to be collected by car every morning at exactly the same time and place.

Sgt Podge, a Norwegian Forest Cat, disappears from his owner's home in Talbot Woods, Bournemouth, every night.

The next morning, the 12-year-old cat can always be found in exactly the same place, on a pavement about one and a half miles (2.4km) away.

His owner, Liz Bullard, takes her son to school before collecting Sgt Podge.

She said the routine began earlier this year, when Sgt Podge disappeared one day.

Read more...

Meet Missy

Hey guys - meet Missy, a super adorable 4-month old calico girl who was abandoned.

She was picked up by a good friend who realised little Missy has a wound on her leg. She was sent to Dr. H and is now recuperating and at the same time waiting to go to a good home.

Ain't she adorable?? See how comfy she is!

Missy though young, is full of personality. She has that sparkle in her eyes, ready for game, anytime! ;-)

An update on Snowy..

Please forgive me for the long absence. Been busy with Oren and some unexpected domestic occurrence. Sigh.

Oren is back to being himself once again. He has also regained his "chubby" status.



Now, it's back to our beautiful and brave Snowy.



* Snowy has put on weight!

* Her coat is beautifully light golden in colour after a nice loving shower by the Joyous angels.

* She has learn to believe that not all human beings are cruel. She is so manja and affectionate now she enjoys being cuddled. : )

* She still walks in circles. She'll probably remain like this given the impact of her injury. This will be a permanent reminder of her sad past.

* Snowy is still waiting patiently for her special someone. The very one who will love her unconditionally, wholeheartedly, responsibly, never forsake & care for her for the rest of her time on earth.

Both G and myself visit her weekly and spend some quality time with her. It is always a joy seeing her & the other furry patients. The last time we visited Snowy, she was sniffing, possibly down with slight flu.

Snowy has come such a long way. It has been almost 6 months from the faithful day (30 Jun 07) we rescued Snowy. To some, Snowy is just a cat. To all of us who care, she is a life.

We are very grateful to the angelic team at the clinic who has been so loving to Snowy. We want to especially thank Dr. H for her big heart. Without her, it would be impossible to continue caring physically, mentally & financially for Snowy for this long.

We are equally grateful to kind donors who have supported our efforts in financial aspect. I wish to update that the donations for Snowy will be exhausted soon. Details of her expenses and donations will be posted shortly.

We want to also thank fellow bloggers who helped spread words regarding Snowy and all who kept Snowy in their thoughts and prayers.

The journey has not been easy - from tears to laughter, from anxiety to relief, from despair to hope.. We would not have made it this far without all of you. Thank you for braving the storm with us and Snowy. We are finally seeing the rainbow emerging.. The full rainbow will appear the day Snowy meets her special someone. : )



Please pray with us, for Snowy to find her happily ever after. Let her story end beautiful. Let the rainbow appear full.

My Four Essentials

This comment caught my interest.

san said...

I used to tag my community cats until one day, one of our cats Minah got dragged by her collar by some boy. The old aunty who helped to feed her aw him just in time to stop him but she could not tell me what he looked like. He actually hooked her collar to a kind of spring that teenagers use these days. She got a bloody mouth and a bad sprain. :( So now I don't tag her nor any of the cats although I still think it might be safer to tag them.

10/06/2007 9:18 PM

San, I'm so sorry to hear about Minah's traumatic experience. : (

Generally, sane humans won't disturb the cats. It's the insane who will. And if these insane do, then whether the collar is on the cat or not is really secondary. Their primary intention is, to hurt the cat. They can hurt the cat with anything.. even with bare hands. With collars that comes with elastic band portion, the collar will stretch when pulled.

It's a pity the abuser got away scot-free. But I suppose the old aunty can't do anything also due to her age. She can't be running after him. Sigh.

What I do when I go feeding, is to always ensure my four essentials are with me (actually I have them all the time with me):

1. my digital camera
2. my mobile phone
3. a shrill alarm (good for creating a scene so as to draw attention)
4. a small handy bright torch (Energizer has good ones)

** Pic to be uploaded **

For cats who love the trees, then it is up to the caregivers' assessment on whether the collars will be suitable. I guess they know the cats best.

For cats who love the cars, I would reccommend but only with safety collar. Remember to state also the street name where the cats reside - it'll be helpful.

Home Sweet Home

Thanks for sharing our joy and for welcoming Oren back. * smile *

I saw him last night. He has lost a little weight.. oh well, quite a bit cos his face is not so pinch-able now. He looks weird in his shrunken frame. Haha. But rest assured he'll be chubby again in no time!


"Yum yum yum..."

He appeared very exhausted though and slept most time. He hasn't been sleeping well I believe or maybe he's too famished to sleep well. It actually pains my heart to know he starved almost a week.



"Interview later please. I need to catch up with my sleep k?"

Everybody who saw him fussed over him and ooh ahh-ed over his incredible adventure.. so much limelight! I think Nana felt neglected!

Collaring & Tagging your community cats

Many may think that it is unsafe to collar your community cats but it actually depends on how well you know your cats, how well you know your turf and the type of collars being used. I'm actually very particular about the collar itself - it must be comfortable to the skin.

Never use collars meant for dogs on cats. The cats' claws may get stuck while they scratch.

Take Nana & Oren for instance.

1. They rarely, if not, never climb trees.

2. We know the neighbours (and prata shop next to our blk) well enough. They know the cats too.

3. The collars I use are "safe". Noticed the elastic portion (circled in pink in pic)? This part is stretchable so the cat can escape if stuck for some reason.

4. The tags are round in shape so the edge will not cut the cats or cause discomfort.

I have so far not tagged the others as I wanted to observe. However, as a result of this incident, I have decided to tag the rest, beginning with Taro (who also likes lounging on car tops and hardly climb trees).

I also think it is important to include, besides name of the cat & contact no., the blk & street name.

In my opinion, having the tags deter others from disturbing the cats as they seemed to "belong" to somebody. Also, pest control are more hesistant somewhat about taking cats with collars & tags (I feel).

Of cos, the above are my own views and opinions so it's up to individual to judge if the same works but it definitely has for me. Otherwise, we wouldn't be reunited with Oren once more.

Thanks for sharing our happiness in recovering Oren. : )

How the hell did Oren manage THAT distance??

Many are quite appalled at how Oren managed the distance (Tampines to Orchard). Here's my attempt to explain the possibility.

The vehicle looked like a Mitsubishi Raider from my impression. Oren was seen "driven off" on Point 1. My guess is that he jumped off to Point 2 and remained there till he felt safe enough to escape, i.e. at Orchard where the Raider driver would have parked (at Cuppage Rd).



Make sense?

Otherwise, it's quite difficult to imagine him on Point 1 all the way.. I'm sure fellow drivers on the road will alert the driver in Raider wouldn't they?

Oren is home!!!

OMG!!!!! I can't believe this! Someone called M this morning - Oren has been found!!!!! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! This is incredible good luck! I almost dropped my hair dryer and my jaw - in blissful joy. Wednesday has never felt this good. : )

I'm glad we had made the decision to tag him (since his first disappearance) and Nana. Otherwise, we would be denied the chance of this reunion.

Silly boy actually sat on top of the vehicle from Tampines to Orchard. Can you believe it??! * Roll Eyes *

He ended up inside St. Gerard's School at 12 Mt. Sophia Rd which is near Plaza Singapura. A very kind teacher noticed him, saw the tag on his collar and called M (whose no. is listed first followed by mine). She said Oren was very friendly and she was glad to reunite us. M's dad flew down (in his cab) in happiness to fetch His Majesty. Haha. Happiness beyond words.

Was told he lost quite an amount of weight. It's hard to imagine Oren being slim. He has been chubby all his life. But for him to lose weight than for us to lose him is still, a better deal. Weight can be put back but heartache is forever.

We hope Oren has had enough of his adventures (twice this year!) and just stay in his own "kingdom". We're sure Nana is glad her silly "boyfriend" is home.

Nana & Oren

I wanna thank everyone who were with us in spirit during Oren's disappearance, esp GL and G.

Can't wait to fuss over Oren this evening.

Help us find Oren. He is dearly missed.

Oren is a sterilised male ginger cat with white chest, a tipped left ear and a short bobtail. He wears a green collar with a yellow round tag (with our contact nos.)

He is the resident cat at Blk 897A Tampines Street 81 and will wander to the nearby blocks and carpark occasionally.

Witnesses at the prata shop at Blk 820 saw him being driven off on Fri (21 Sep 07) at around 11pm while being on top of a black twin-cabin. We managed to trace the vehicle owner who is genuinely not aware of what happened. His destination was Centrepoint area / Cuppage Rd that night.

We have since gone to look for Oren on a few occasions at that area and distributed flyers. We’ve also searched for him nearby our Tampines St. 81 area. Other possible areas include Tampines Ave 4, Tampines Ave 1, Simei Ave 5 (leading to PIE), PIE, Cairnhill Rd and Cuppage Rd.

We are extremely worried about his well-being and safety. We miss him very dearly.

Please call xx immediately if you see a cat fitting Oren’s description.

A million thanks.

Where are you Oren?

PLEASE HELP US FIND OREN

My heart has been aching the past 48 hours.

Oren is missing again.

The last time he disappeared, it was in May. We were lucky to recover him after 2 weeks then, thanks to alert fellow caregivers. He ended up in another part of Tampines - I don't know how. It remains a mystery to-date. This time, we heard from some witnesses at the prata shop where Oren was a frequent "patron" he was driven off on Fri (21 Sep 07) night while being on top of a car (it was a MPV they think). They tried to get the driver's attention but to no avail. No one took note of the car's plate no.

Oren was gone.

Just like that.

Where? We don't know. Everyone who loved him at my area are heartwrenched.

Oren has a penchant for car tops. He enjoyed lounging on them. Maybe for the coolness. As he was a popular "part of the blk" character, nobody really minded.

That faithful night, for some reason, he didn't get off the vehicle in time.

There were so many questions on our mind.

Is that vehicle's owner a resident near our place? Or was he from somewhere far? Did Oren leap off at some point? Was it a busy road he chose to escape? Was he hurt? Was he frightened to be away from "home"? Was he hungry? Is he still alive? If so, WHERE??

This is such an awful feeling. So awful. : (

We have no idea how we should search for him. He could be anywhere from Tampines to Simei to Changi to Bedok or even further. We intend to put up posters, flyer the vehicles at our area, write to SPCA and AVA, spread news via CWS. The only brighter hope we are placing on is that someone very kind will notice him and the tag on his collar with our contact nos and call us. Since the last time he went missing, we've decided to tag his collar.

Oren is a sterilised (tipped left ear) ginger male with white chest about 3-4 years old. He has an easy to spot short bob tail. Friendly. He is the resident cat of Blk 897A Tampines Street 81.

Please help us keep a lookout for our dear friend. Please call xx immediately if you spot a cat fitting Oren's description. We miss him dearly.

Snowy - Update - 6 Sep 07

Thanks to those of you who shared your views on accupuncture. As funds are limited, we have decided to at this point, to drop the idea as this alternative treatment is too costly for us to handle. A 30-min session is about SGD85.00. Snowy definitely need more than just a single session.

Snowy now has a beautiful tipped left ear - she was spayed earlier this week. Up next will be vaccination in about 10 days' time. She still need to put on more weight.


Scabs on Snowy's head clearing. ~ 20 Aug 07


Snowy in a relaxing mood. ~ 25 Aug 07


Snowy purred!! ~ 25 Aug 07


Snowy on 25 Aug 07 - about to enter dreamland.

Video Clips:


Snowy enjoying affection from me. ~ 20 Aug 07


Snowy enjoying affection from G. ~ 20 Aug 07


Snowy is sterilised. ~ 6 Sep 07

Snowy still spins. ~ 6 Sep 07

Snowy is still pining for her special someone to appear. She waits each day, with patience while G and I prayed each night, with hope our prayers will be answered - that our brave little girl finds a good, loving & responsible home.

celestelock@hotmail.com