I'm sure some of you have received the email about a cat that was stuck on the roof of an abandoned cinema along with a link to an earlier blog post of mine. I was sent the email as well by a few people. Fortunately the cat has been rescued. Unfortunately, it seems that the situation there has not been resolved though I have not heard from the people involved for a while.
There was also no link to my followup blog posts which are here, here and here. This may give an incomplete picture of what has been happening - or at least what was happening when I went down almost two years ago.
The person who contacted me about this case was helping out but wasn't the feeder and thus was limited in what he could do. The management had gone down a few times and opened the place up - but unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be an attempt to plug up the holes. The building was also apparently in bad condition and would be unsafe to walk into.
Worse, at least when I was there, at least one feeder was still feeding the cats inside by throwing food in. The woman I met was worried that the cats would be hungry, but throwing more food in does nothing but encourage the cats to stay in, especially when the doors were open as on the day I went down.
Obviously, thinking long term - ie how to keep the cats out - is more important than the short term, ie the cat is hungry. To that end, it would have certainly been better if there had been attempts to try and work with the management to prevent the cats from going in. Perhaps it was done, but the feeders I did meet did not seem very interested in that.
Whatever the case must have been, unfortunately because there doesn't seem to have been a long term fix, this means that this has been going on for years. I am also pretty sure the management will have long lost patience by now if the problem has been reoccurring.
5 comments:
I'd received the same distress SMS and was also in touch with the person who'd helped to facilitate the rescue of the cat too. I totally agree with you about how a long-term solution has to be found... Is there any way that perhaps a group of us who're concerned about the situation can speak to the building management separately, and offer to mesh or block access of the cats to the upper levels of the buildings? If someone already has contact with the management, we really shouldn't squander our chance to speak to them, and sort the problem out...
I understand from one of the caregivers that some of the feeders are really resistant to any advice on proper feeding. At the same time, I don't think any of us - including the management - want another situation of having these distress calls again... not when we should be finding a long-term solution.
Sure Melissa - I think that would be a great idea. I did offer to go in with the management but they said the cinema was in such bad shape that it wasn't safe to enter.
Still, there must be ways to plug up the holes from the outside (and the management actually did try - but I don't think they got them all).
Also, as you said, it is really important the feeders co-operate. Throwing food in is going to lure the cats back into the area.
Hmmm, but even if the building structure is unsafe, there has to be at least limited access for us to enter :) I'm sure their own security guards etc. go in there too. And like you said, there must be some way to plug up the holes even from outside.
Anyways, would you happen to know the person in charge or management representative personally? Maybe those of us who are keen to help in some way or another can meet them together and offer to plug out the holes at our cost? Would that be something they might be more amenable to?
Sigh. It can get frustrating convincing feeders to co-operate, but we just have to keep trying until they realise their "acts of kindness" could well be the same ones that get the cats stuck and eventually trapped, injured, etc. :(
Plugging the outlets is not the solution. If feeders decide to feed inside the compound, they will continue to toss food inside and for the cats to have access to feed there.
If i want to feed the cats inside the cinema, i would make sure cats can go in, right?
I'm not sure whom the manager is now - the person who sent out the SMS/emails may be more current on the present management.
I did offer to put in some repellents and try to mesh up the area. Anonymous has a point though - unfortunately if the feeders believe that the cats are stuck inside, they may also try and break through whatever barriers are put up.
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