Monday, March 9, 2009

MP got heart: Bedok Reservoir Cats saved from death

MP got heart: Bedok Reservoir Cats saved from death

You know, if I could afford a flat of my own, one of the factors I LOOK AT SERIOUSLY is how the authorities in that area view homeless cat population management. By that definition, Tampines, in fact the Paris Ris GRC, and anywhere Mr Mah Bow Tan or Mr Vivian Balakrishnan stands or will stand, are out for me. The worst regret about the state of things in Mr Mah Bow Tan’s ward is that it’s not like there aren’t caregivers there. In fact, the cats there are as well -taken care of as other estates. But the chronology of trapped cats which Dawn handled as director of operations for cws despite the town council’s agreement to work with caregivers has left an indelible impression, not least because town councils supposedly work based on the mandate of the MP of the ward.

In general, the Singapore homeless cat situation is not helped by the authorities’ enthusiastic funding and abetting of cat culling, which undermines caregivers’ hard work, to the detriment of active citizenry. We do not want glory, we want to see cat blood and guts being spilled even less. Certainly, caregivers DO NOT want more cats out on the streets - that’s why we sterilise. The only way someone could advocate sterilisation and yet want more cats on the streets would be to rely heavily on split-personality disorder treatment.

(Actually, if I could afford it, I would look to private housing, just to be rid of the stress and anxiety of HDB’s guillotine ruling on cats, but that’s moot since I can’t, and quite beside the point of this post. Moving on…)

Therefore, it is a very pleasant surprise to know Dr George Yeo has deigned to listen and help constituents who are caring for 8 cats in his ward (<-Please click here and thank him). Yes, his support comes with a caveat that just seems a tad ominous and open to interpretation but well, he does have leave himself an escape clause, so I can live with that. Now let’s see my own MP will stop being vague about supporting tec’s 10 year-old tnrm across 2 inhabited neighbourhoods and 1 busy public-access area.