Overhaul of HDB Cat Ownership Policy

Overhaul of HDB Cat Ownership Policy Problem. The policy not to allow cats to be kept in HDB flats is to minimise incidents of cats becoming a nuisance to residents (ST Jul 13) has good intentions but it has significant national implications for Singaporeans. Implications. Firstly, it leads to a loss of public integrity as residents keeping cats will have to do so furtively as cat keeping is a breach of a term and condition in the HDB property sales & purchase agreement. Will the offender be evicted from his home? Secondly, should one HDB official decide to use his power to enforce the over fifty-year-old policy, a large number of Singaporeans will be penalised since 90% of the population is reportedly living in HDB apartments. The issue may turn into a political hot potato during the election year. Using my personal experience, my veterinary practice, existing for 19 years in an HDB industrial park was asked to cease operations by the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) official last year as veterinary clinics are not categoried as "industrial". I should relocate or become an industrialist although the URA & HDB had approved the use of the premises as "veterinary clinic" in a 1982 public tender. Thirdly, the taxpayers' money will be used to bring offenders to court should there be a challenge to the policy due to the eviction of the persistent offender from the HDB. Fourthly, once the court case is publicised, the image and branding of Singapore as a caring developed nation suffers globally since a click of the mouse for such information at a Google search engine will reveal such litigation by anybody anywhere. Fifthly, an increasing large number of older parents and sick senior citizens keep a cat as a companion since the children have grown up or are busy at work. Certain religions prohibit the keeping of dogs as pets; cats are a good alternative. The policy deprives many of home companionship, somebody to "talk to" after a hard days' labour. Many cat lovers who want to be law abiding, cannot afford to live in private condos and houses which will not have such a policy. Solutions. It is good to read that the Housing Board will consider the Cat Welfare Society's latest proposal (ST Jul 13). One HDB official had told me that cats let out of the apartments may spray urine or pass stools at neighbour's premises. Sterilisation of cats definitely stops this problem. How widespread is this wandering problem? Education of the younger generation helps to stop pet cats wandering out of the house will take time. An excellent initiative, "Responsible pet ownership education talks" by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) vets is held in schools yearly. I believe that the main nuisance for HDB flat owners is the cats making noisy mating calls and fighting over territories in the middle of the night rather than spraying urine at neighbour's premises. An excellent research on Singapore stray cats by the AVA vet, Dr Lou Ek Hee, http://www.sva.org.sg/html/singapore_stray_cats.html, showed that from 1981 - 1998, there was respectively, a yearly number of around 14,000 cats "culled" by the AVA and the SPCA and around 4,000 complaints about cats. Permitting residents to keep cats legally will lead to fewer strays as many residents do not want to breach the HDB law on cat ownership and abandon the cats if they have been warned by the HDB against cat ownership. I hope the prime minister will look into overhauling the policy owing to its larger impact on the ordinary Singaporean and the image of the country. Dr Sing Kong Yuen Toa Payoh Vets Blk 1002 Toa Payoh Lor 8 01-1477, Singapore 319074 Tel: 6254 3326, 6254 2728. Home Tel: 645 45843. Mobile: 9668 6468. drsing@pacific.net.sg Note: I am a veterinarian in small animal practice which includes cats. This URL: http://www.asiahomes.com/0737HDB_cats_Singapore.htm References at:

REFERENCES http://app.internet.gov.sg/data/mcds/mcdsfeedback/feedback/feedback175.htm Increasing Numbers Of Stray Cats March 13, 2002 Your Feedback : Some private estate residents are concerned about the increasing numbers of stray cats on the streets and the environmental issues that may arise because of that. They have approached the Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) for help in sterilising the cats but were told by the latter that members need to live in HDB dwellings in order to qualify for the help. As such, residents are interested in finding out what other avenues of help can they seek in sterilising the cats to curb its rising numbers. Reply from Ministry : When the residents of private estates mentioned about approaching AVA to sterilise stray cats to control the population, I believe they may have AVA's Stray Cat Rehabilitation Scheme in mind. This scheme was started for HDB estates in August 1998 as a way to control the stray cat population humanely through sterilisation and responsible management of the cats. Under this scheme, residents of HDB estates can apply to register with AVA or their town councils if they wish to help control stray cats through sterilisation and responsible management. They will qualify for registration (and henceforth called volunteers) if they can meet the conditions of registration which include working towards getting at least 90% of the cats in their area sterilised, managing the cats so that they can live harmoniously in the neighbourhood and assisting the town council to deal with complaints about the cats they manage. The majority of these volunteers begin by putting in their own time, money and effort to get the cats sterilised and manage the cats. To assist them, AVA will sterilise some of the cats if the town council requests AVA to do so. The volunteers have to arrange to catch and transport the cats and the cats must be accompanied with an original signed letterhead from the town council. A prior surgery appointment must be made. For your information about a year ago the scheme was extended to private areas that have an area management or residents' committee to work with the volunteers to control the cats. The conditions of registration and how the scheme works remain the same. If the committee would like to participate in the scheme and requests AVA to sterilise the cats we will do so upon receiving a formal written request. If yourself or your residents would like further clarification about the scheme or advice on how to be involved in managing stray cats humanely, please contact us. Thank you. Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore Tel: 2221211 Fax: 2206068 Email: ava_email.ava.gov.sg Website: http://www.ava.gov.sg Date Of Reply: 13 March 2002

http://www.sva.org.sg/html/singapore_stray_cats.html 1981-1998. Dr Lou Ek Hee, Head, Animal Welfare Section, AVA 14000 stray cats culled per year. 4,000 complaints about cats per year. Kinder and more gracious society. Majority does not want the stray cats "culled".

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/story/0,1870,131011,00.html July 10, 2001. Straits Times. Forum page. Cats make great pets in HDB flats I REFER to Minister of State (National Development) Vivian Balakrishnan's comments in Parliament ('Animal abusers to face heavier penalties'; ST, July 9). Firstly, we would like to point out that 28 veterinarians support our proposal to allow HDB residents to keep cats as pets and have confirmed they are excellent apartment animals. Increasingly, cats are becoming the most popular pet for urban dwellers. With sterilisation, they are content to remain housebound and indoors. Furthermore, we have stated clearly in our proposal that only people who agree to keep cats responsibly, i.e. indoors, will be allowed to keep them. Secondly, sterilisation is different for cats and humans. Unlike humans, cats lose all interest in mating once they are sterilised. As such, caterwauling, howling and 'post-coital agony' will no longer be an issue. The Cat Welfare Society advocates sterilisation of all home cats and stray cats. Thirdly, the minister may have confused the issue of stray cats and indoor pets. The complaints, which the minister refers to, seem to be in relation to stray cats which have not been sterilised or managed properly. This will not be a problem with pet cats, which need to be sterilised, microchipped and kept indoors, under our proposal. By allowing HDB residents to keep cats in flats, the number of stray cats will decrease, which will in turn lower the number of complaints. We believe that the minister may not have read our proposal or may have been mistaken as to its contents. We will be sending a copy to him. We hope to meet the Ministry of National Development to clarify the misconceptions with regard to our proposal. For details of our proposal, please visit our website at www.catwelfare.org

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/forum/story/0,1870,131586,00.html July 13, 2002 Straits Times Forum Page. Proposal on cats under study I REFER to the letters, 'Cats make great pets in HDB flats' by Ms Dawn Kua from the Cat Welfare Society and 'Sterilised felines won't be a nuisance' by Ms Deirdre Moss from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ST, July 10). We thank both for their comments. The Housing Board does not permit cats to be kept in HDB flats in order to minimise incidents of cats becoming a nuisance to residents. Nonetheless, we are studying the Cat Welfare Society's latest proposal and will inform it of the outcome of our review in due course. SOO SIEW KEONG Assistant Director Public Affairs Ministry of National Development