A number of animal related stories in the papers in view of World Animal day. According to this article in mypaper, the number of cats taken to the SPCA has dropped by half in the last 5 years. This is great news. It also mentions CWS' Spay Days, though they were actually started four years ago, not three as the newspaper stated.
There is also apparently a new foundation being set up by Pet Lovers Centre to encourage adoption. Perhaps the foundation might consider setting up adoption centres in the pet shops? Here's a photo of a similar initiative that Petsmart charities has in the US. Every Petsmart has an adoption centre run by welfare groups in the area - and as you can see, quite a large number of animals has been adopted through them.
Monday, October 5, 2009
World Animal Day news
Sunday, October 4, 2009
World Animal Day
Happy World Animal Day everyone. As we reach another World Animal Day, it reminds me of how much animals enrich our lives and bring us so much joy. I hope that everyone will learn to at least tolerate, if not love, the animals around us.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Neighbours
Someone I know just had a community cat of hers caught and sent to the AVA. Fortunately, she was able to retrieve the cat in time before it was killed, but it turns out that a neighbour trapped the cat while she was away. She was upset and aggrieved, that a neighbour would do so before speaking with her as the neighbour knew the cat was a cat she cared for.
It is extremely upsetting to lose your cat in such an upsetting fashion, and it is true that some neighbours are very trigger happy. They would rather trap your cat (knowing it is under your care), rather than wait to speak with you.
However it is a good idea to try and get on good terms with your neighbours BEFORE there is any friction. You don't want your first contact with your neighbours to be one where there is already some unhappiness over a cat, for example.
If you first move into a neighbourhood, or there is a new neighbour who moves in, do take the initiative to go over and introduce yourself. It can be as simple as just offering to give them your number or telling them to knock on your door if they need anything. I tend to like to bring over something to welcome them - baked goods (if you bake), flowers, etc. It doesn't have to be something expensive. That way your start off your first interaction on a positive note. Your neighbour is then more likely to approach you if they do have an issue in the future.
Especially if the cats are very obvious - ie lounging around and impossible to miss - you may want to also let your neighbours know, that you help to care for them. You should also let them know that if there is any issue, they should not hesitate to contact you.
Of course, it doesn't mean that the relationship will not go sour in future no matter what you do. However, it's always better to have a friendly first interaction then to meet your neighbour only when they have an issue with the cats.
A caregiver I know is so friendly and helpful to the neighbours that one of her neighbours who really doesn't like the cats at all, keeps an eye on the cats when the caregiver is on holiday. The neighbour still doesn't like the cats - but she DOES like the caregiver, and that makes all the difference.
It is extremely upsetting to lose your cat in such an upsetting fashion, and it is true that some neighbours are very trigger happy. They would rather trap your cat (knowing it is under your care), rather than wait to speak with you.
However it is a good idea to try and get on good terms with your neighbours BEFORE there is any friction. You don't want your first contact with your neighbours to be one where there is already some unhappiness over a cat, for example.
If you first move into a neighbourhood, or there is a new neighbour who moves in, do take the initiative to go over and introduce yourself. It can be as simple as just offering to give them your number or telling them to knock on your door if they need anything. I tend to like to bring over something to welcome them - baked goods (if you bake), flowers, etc. It doesn't have to be something expensive. That way your start off your first interaction on a positive note. Your neighbour is then more likely to approach you if they do have an issue in the future.
Especially if the cats are very obvious - ie lounging around and impossible to miss - you may want to also let your neighbours know, that you help to care for them. You should also let them know that if there is any issue, they should not hesitate to contact you.
Of course, it doesn't mean that the relationship will not go sour in future no matter what you do. However, it's always better to have a friendly first interaction then to meet your neighbour only when they have an issue with the cats.
A caregiver I know is so friendly and helpful to the neighbours that one of her neighbours who really doesn't like the cats at all, keeps an eye on the cats when the caregiver is on holiday. The neighbour still doesn't like the cats - but she DOES like the caregiver, and that makes all the difference.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Peacocks on Sentosa
Some of you may have read the article about peacocks on Sentosa. I remember seeing some of the signs when I was last there a few years ago, and here's a photo, a blogger took of the signs. What's especially interesting to me is that the peacocks are actually SEEN attacking the cars, but that most people seem to be okay with it, or rather that they understand what the peacocks are doing. Some people have even bought car covers, according to the story. This leads me to the question - are people on Sentosa just more accommodating to wildlife, or is it just because peacocks are rarer?
Thursday, September 24, 2009
TC report cards
Many of you have probably already read these articles on town councils and their new ranking system. As some of you have mentioned in the past, it is quite worrying.
There are a few things that are cause for concern. Firstly, cleanliness is assessed in terms of how many average complaints there are per block. Again, it doesn't seem from the report that this takes into account whether the complaint is from the same person or from various people. So technically, you could have a block where 99% of the block is happy with the level of cleanliness, but the block could get a bad grade because one person complains repeatedly. This leads to what a few of you have mentioned in the past - the possible knee jerk reaction in response to complaints about cats.
Of course TCs are going to want to be extra responsive - and if there is a complaint, are they more likely to work with residents or trap and remove cats? As we all know, removing cats doesn't help because most of these cats are not community cats, but someone's household cat let out to wander. Again because the root cause of the problem isn't solved - the problem will reoccur when the same irresponsible residents just gets another cat and lets it out to wander.
At the same time, will TCs feel they need to solve the problem even 'quicker' lest they get another complaint from the same resident about the same issue? Will they exert more pressure on caregivers? The only hope I have is that TCs start to realise after getting repeat complaints from the same resident that it's driving their complaint numbers up and that they may be more willing to come to a more permanent solution by consulting with caregivers.
Secondly, I had thought this exercise was going to be about transparency. The main concern that everyone had was when people realised that town council funds were being put in investments which were losing money. While I appreciate that financial information is available online, surely the idea is that residents should be able to access any relevant information about TCs both easily and for free. For example, when I last checked, many TCs still did not publish their bylaws online. In order to get them, you need to buy the bylaws. In addition, while in theory you are supposed to be able to buy them at the TC counter, the TCs I spoke to didn't have them.
Instead of assessing TCs on the basis of arrears collected, there must be a better system of determining transparency. Certainly if a TC has problems collecting arrears in a large number of cases, there is probably an issue there. On the other hand, what if there are residents who are unable to pay as was mentioned by Ms Grace Fu herself?
One of the issues I think we've talked about often is service standards - and again, I don't see that being addressed. This should include guidelines referring to how long it will take for a TC officer to get back to you - ie within the day? Never? It was very disappointing that this was not addressed. The GEMS programme already at work in other sectors might be a model.
Another thing that concerns me is that this seems that unfortunately again this is going to be a complaint driven report card. What if people are happy with their estates? Is there no criteria that can measure it? I am sure that people are more likely to criticise than praise in general - but there should be some room for people to praise a TC when it deserves the accolades.
Whatever is said about the TCs not being compared with each other, it is inevitable that people will do the ranking themselves as they're all being measured on the same scale. It's sort of like school rankings and the inevitable craziness that used to occur when schools were ranked. No TC will want to be at the bottom of the list and I worry what methods they will use to achieve this.
Finally, while there is talk residents and TCs deciding on the standards and how much they are willing to pay for it, I don't see how this will happen in practise. Most people will naturally want the cleanest estate for the cheapest possible price. Some residents are willing to pay more for a cleaner estate as one of the people quoted in the article mentioned. On the other hand, other residents as another person mentioned, do not want to pay more but want to be more personally involved in keeping the estate clean. I don't see how the TC report card is going to help resolve this in any way.
There are a few things that are cause for concern. Firstly, cleanliness is assessed in terms of how many average complaints there are per block. Again, it doesn't seem from the report that this takes into account whether the complaint is from the same person or from various people. So technically, you could have a block where 99% of the block is happy with the level of cleanliness, but the block could get a bad grade because one person complains repeatedly. This leads to what a few of you have mentioned in the past - the possible knee jerk reaction in response to complaints about cats.
Of course TCs are going to want to be extra responsive - and if there is a complaint, are they more likely to work with residents or trap and remove cats? As we all know, removing cats doesn't help because most of these cats are not community cats, but someone's household cat let out to wander. Again because the root cause of the problem isn't solved - the problem will reoccur when the same irresponsible residents just gets another cat and lets it out to wander.
At the same time, will TCs feel they need to solve the problem even 'quicker' lest they get another complaint from the same resident about the same issue? Will they exert more pressure on caregivers? The only hope I have is that TCs start to realise after getting repeat complaints from the same resident that it's driving their complaint numbers up and that they may be more willing to come to a more permanent solution by consulting with caregivers.
Secondly, I had thought this exercise was going to be about transparency. The main concern that everyone had was when people realised that town council funds were being put in investments which were losing money. While I appreciate that financial information is available online, surely the idea is that residents should be able to access any relevant information about TCs both easily and for free. For example, when I last checked, many TCs still did not publish their bylaws online. In order to get them, you need to buy the bylaws. In addition, while in theory you are supposed to be able to buy them at the TC counter, the TCs I spoke to didn't have them.
Instead of assessing TCs on the basis of arrears collected, there must be a better system of determining transparency. Certainly if a TC has problems collecting arrears in a large number of cases, there is probably an issue there. On the other hand, what if there are residents who are unable to pay as was mentioned by Ms Grace Fu herself?
One of the issues I think we've talked about often is service standards - and again, I don't see that being addressed. This should include guidelines referring to how long it will take for a TC officer to get back to you - ie within the day? Never? It was very disappointing that this was not addressed. The GEMS programme already at work in other sectors might be a model.
Another thing that concerns me is that this seems that unfortunately again this is going to be a complaint driven report card. What if people are happy with their estates? Is there no criteria that can measure it? I am sure that people are more likely to criticise than praise in general - but there should be some room for people to praise a TC when it deserves the accolades.
Whatever is said about the TCs not being compared with each other, it is inevitable that people will do the ranking themselves as they're all being measured on the same scale. It's sort of like school rankings and the inevitable craziness that used to occur when schools were ranked. No TC will want to be at the bottom of the list and I worry what methods they will use to achieve this.
Finally, while there is talk residents and TCs deciding on the standards and how much they are willing to pay for it, I don't see how this will happen in practise. Most people will naturally want the cleanest estate for the cheapest possible price. Some residents are willing to pay more for a cleaner estate as one of the people quoted in the article mentioned. On the other hand, other residents as another person mentioned, do not want to pay more but want to be more personally involved in keeping the estate clean. I don't see how the TC report card is going to help resolve this in any way.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sterilisation for cats
Thanks to yskat for sending this in. I think we discussed the grant to fund research into sterilisation, but here's a story about the guy who is putting his money to try and find injectable contraceptives for cats. I am surprised the story called TNR 'exotic' though.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Egypt belated spots flaw in killing pigs
While our garbage collection is definitely better than the one described in this article, this reaction to H1N1 certainly sounds familiar. This serves as a good cautionary tale - animals react and respond to the environment and fill the vacuum there. Removing them causes a myriad of other unanticipated problems.
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