Hari Raya

Selamat Hari Raya to everyone who celebrates - and may you have a wonderful year ahead.

Podcast taping

I went and taped a podcast with the lovely people from Alley Cat Allies on Mediation, aka community relations today. It was a fun session and I'll let you know when it's available to hear!

Dolphin killing

Considering how intelligent and gentle dolphins are, it makes it even sadder that they are hunted and killed.

Pier 39 with sealions

Pier 39 with sealions, originally uploaded by dawnkua.

I was away in California over the past week and came upon these sea lions.

What was however even more interesting to me was the fact that these sealions started migrating to the area, and that at first they were viewed as a nuisance. People wanted them gone because they were noisy. Several people around me also commented on the smell.

What was really interesting though was that they decided to try and accommodate the sea lions instead of driving them away and now they are a huge tourist attraction. There were tons of tourists taking photos and just basically watching the sea lions.

Food for thought for people who think our community cats are pests?

Declawing

This is an interesting article about declawing in the San Francisco papers. San Francisco, is known to be one of the more progressive cities in the US in terms of animal welfare, and their SPCA is world famous.

Interestingly, the SF SPCA and some of the vets do not want to ban declawing. One of the reasons given is that they do not believe city council should legislate on the matter. Another is that there is a worry that owners might give their cats up if they are not given the option of declawing.

A couple of issues - again, I'm not a huge fan of unnecessary legislation as you guys know. Often, without enforcement, how effective is it just to HAVE a law? However, a few years ago when we considered this topic, we talked to the vets in Singapore. Instead of having a strict law against it, the vets, as a body, could decide amongst themselves NOT to practice declawing. That way, if there were also very specific reasons why they might want to practice declawing in certain cases, they can still make that decision. For example, if someone comes to them and says that their cat has scratched them and the cat will be tossed out on the street otherwise.

On the other hand, some of the vets told us they thought that cats might be thrown out on the streets otherwise. First of all, even in Singapore, where declawing is not very common, we have found declawed cats abandoned. So I don't think that argument holds much water. Secondly, most people declaw cats when they first adopt/buy a cat, so it would not really affect that many people who already HAVE cats. If it stops someone from adopting a cat, then so be it. Also, as I mentioned, if it is a practice direction that the veterinary association agrees to adopt, then they CAN make exceptions where they think it is necessary.

Another point I think to consider is that declawing has been illegal in the United Kingdom and I believe much of Europe for many years as has tail docking. If it has worked there, then I think it's high time to consider doing away with the practice - whether by law, or by internal regulation.

ST (2-9-09)

Here's a letter from Mr Tan Tuan Khoon that I can agree with. It's something that we've been advocating and talking to the vets about since I was with CWS (and on this blog and on the predecessor to this blog). Perhaps Mr Tan may not be not aware that not all the vets are comfortable doing early age spay-neuter or more caregivers and pet owners would be happy to do it. There have been caregivers who have worked with vets to get cats sterilised before four to six months (which is normally done here).

Mr Tan may also be unaware that there are already people reporting animals abandoned but that it is very difficult to prosecute and find proof of this. You must for example have witnessed the animal being dumped - and obviously, you'd be hard pressed to find someone actually abandon an animal where others can see it. It's mostly done somewhere remote or in the middle of the night.

Let's hope that Mr Tan has a change of heart. Since he obviously advocates sterilisation (and early age sterilisation too), then let's hope that he actively walks the talk.

What happens to cats caught?

I was talking to a caregiver and she mentioned that one of the complainants had asked for the cats to be removed not knowing that the cats would be killed. On hearing what would happen to the cats, the complainant said that he wanted to withdraw his complaint. He had thought they would be relocated.

It's really important to try and let complainants know what happens to the cats - animal control or town council isn't going to tell them in general. Many complainants may want the cats removed - but they do NOT want them killed. If a solution can be found to whatever issues they are facing, many are fine with the cats remaining where they are.

This is why it's so important to let people know that cats do not end up in what I call Cat Disneyland - they're not in a lovely shelter being cared for. They are being hauled off to be killed - and it doesn't even solve whatever problem there generally was in the first place.

If you're doing TNRM, let your neighbours and others know - and let them know the fate of the cats should they be taken away.