It’s better for cats’ health, reduces aggressivenessand eradicates need to cull
TODAY
Voices
Monday • February 2, 2009
Letter from Joanna Hughes
I refer to “No easy solution for strays” (Jan 30).
I was at first enheartened that the :AVA had finally come to recognise the importance of sterilisation. But the let-down came immediately after. Stray cats a physical threat? Or a cause of “disamenities”, whatever they are?
I live in an urban area, where I have to put up with drunks who pass out on my porch, fights, dirty diapers left next to the rubbish bins and directly in my path, spitters, smokers, loud people of every description, loud motorbikes in need of tune-ups and mufflers, blocked drains that have to be pumped out — ah, the sounds and smells of urban life ...
But there are also community cats who, unless they are having a small dust-up over food or territory, are quiet, generally smell-free and friendly — and if not human-oriented, shy and retiring.
We live through this and adjust to the minor inconveniences they cause.
Yes, cats do fight. The ones who fight are the ones who are not sterilised; the ones who spray urine, ditto.
It’s very simple: Sterilise. Sterilisation reduces much of the aggro that hormones cause (take for example,teenagers who join gangs and beat up others for “staring” at them).
Sterilised cats live longer and healthier lives, create relationships with those who live around them and keep down the vermin population (there was a media report about rats on Orchard Road).
There is more that can be done. One is to give community carers a break — time to work with owners of unsterilised cats, time to get them caught, neutered and help with transport and costs of sterilisation.
Another is to allow HDB dwellers to keep cats, provided they are licensed and neutered. (By the way, let’s make sterilisation part of the licensing requirement for pet dogs, too.)
Finally, to help educate the public about cats: That there are simple ways to deal with “disamenities” (such as putting out mothballs to discourage cats from pooping in pot plants or corners); that cats are not “dirty”, that cats are not aggressive unless threatened; that civilised and gracious people do not kick, punch or torture other living beings, nor do they lobby for their destruction.
Comments
1 - 2 of 2 responses for "Give sterilisation a chance"
| Jen Lim There are too many myths, superstitions |
| Audrey Yes, why not give sterilisation a chance? The town councils need to join hands with the public to make this work
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