From the Straits Times, 24 May 2003, Saturday:
AVA ADMITS: Yes, we're culling stray cats
It's for public health reasons and not because of Sars, says government body. Animal welfare groups protest the move
By Grace Chua
EXPECT to see fewer stray cats, if any, roaming the neighbourhood.
The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority has confirmed what animal lovers have suspected for the past week: that a campaign to cull stray cats is being mounted island-wide in the wake of Sars.
'We regret that the Government has decided upon such extreme measures and are disappointed that animal welfare organisations were not informed nor consulted... We appeal to them to reconsider their decisions.' - Dr Lynn Yeo, president of Cat Welfare Society
But the AVA spokesman stressed that the culling had nothing to do with any fear that cats were transmitting the Sars virus. There is no evidence of this, he said.
Rather, it is part of the 'Singapore's OK' programme to clean up the surroundings and improve public hygiene.
When town council contractors move in to clean food centres and markets, pest controllers would round up the strays and have them brought to the AVA to be put down.
There are about 80,000 stray cats in Singapore.
Yesterday, 30 cats were culled. The day before, the number put down was 25.
The AVA expects the number to increase.
'Food establishments should not have any animals, including cats, for public health reasons,' said the spokesman.
Town council managers contacted maintained that they were rounding up strays in response to public complaints about stray cats being a nuisance.
Cats dirty the areas with their excrement. People also tend to leave food out in the open for them, they said.
One pleased Pasir Ris resident, Harleen Kaur, 18, said: 'I'm scared of cats, so I'm glad they're going to round up strays.
'It'll be a relief not to have stray cats around getting in my way and spreading diseases.'
But the culling campaign is making animal protection groups like the Cat Welfare Society, Action for Singapore Dogs and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals see red.
At a joint press conference, they pointed out that the culling campaign contradicted the AVA's own Stray Cat Rehabilitation Scheme, a sterilisation programme started in 1998, which the groups had devoted time, money and energy to help carry out.
The Cat Welfare Society, for example, had spent $60,000 so far, money from donors and animal lovers, to sterilise about 5,000 cats.
The groups argued that sterilisation was a more humane and effective method of controlling the stray population. Left unsterilised, cats which escaped the dragnet would breed even more quickly as they would have more food and space to do so.
Madam Foo Wei Fong, 36, a shop assistant who is a Cat Welfare Society volunteer, said she had brought a stray to the AVA for sterilisation on Wednesday and was turned away.
'We are all very puzzled and scared. I have had sleepless nights because I heard they were going to cull all the cats,' she said.
The AVA confirmed that the sterilisation programme has been put on hold - as it contradicts the current public hygiene programme of removing cats from the streets altogether.
The animal lovers are not giving up.
Said the Cat Welfare Society's president, Dr Lynn Yeo: 'We regret that the Government has decided upon such extreme measures and are disappointed that animal welfare organisations were not informed nor consulted over such a drastic action that involves the lives of thousands of stray animals in Singapore.
'We appeal to them to reconsider their decision.'
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I find this very cruel.
Yes, clean up Singapore. But simply by putting to sleep stray cats found on the streets of Singapore isn't going to solve the problem, because there are still cats left unsterilized and they are going to breed further.
In my opinion, what AVA should be doing is to gather those stray cats, sterilize them and settle them down somewhere. Or maybe hopefully the Cat Welfare Society can do something like this...
Cats are sentient beings. They have their rights too, no matter what kind of disturbance they are to the general public. Simply because we are of a superior race does not give us the right to lord over animals and dispose them just because they are a hindrance to our everyday life.
Everyday, there are several willing members of the public who gather cats and bring them for sterilization. Some also feed those cats daily. There's a group of people led by a lady who bought a HOUSE just to provide cats with a place to stay. All this just because those people hope to give cats a better life and not meet with such a unfortunate fate as what's happening now. If the AVA is going to kill stray cats just like this, wouldn't the efforts of those animal-lovers be going to waste?
My mom picked up a weak stray kitten a couple of weeks back. Now it's full of life after we took good care of it and gave it food and water and a shelter. My mom has talked about letting the kitten run free on the streets after a few more weeks. But after reading the article about AVA culling cats, I'm going to protest against letting the cat even step outside the gate.