When fines aren't so fine
Letter from Michelle Lee Pui Yee
President, Cat Welfare Society
Today Online 10 May 08;
WE REFER to the call by Class 95's Morning Express, made by DJs The Flying Dutchman and Glenn Ong on Wednesday, for cat feeders to be fined.
During the show, the DJs compared cat feeders to people who feed monkeys, saying that they encourage cats to mess up dustbins and leave their faeces around.
The comments made by Mark van Cuylenberg and Ong leave many cat care-givers concerned because it unnecessarily perpetuates a false impression that all feeders are irresponsible.
There are certainly irresponsible feeders who make no effort to clean up and these people can be fined for falling afoul of littering laws.
Surely, there is no need to impose a blanket cat-feeding fine that takes no account of whether feeding was done responsibly.
Our society has always urged cat feeders to observe guidelines, such as cleaning up after feeding, feeding only at areas and at times of low human traffic and only at ground level.
We would also like to emphasise that regular feeding should always be done in conjunction with sterilisation, in a programme called Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage.
Sterilisation has been proven to be the best long-term solution to reducing the community cat population. In addition, sterilised cats have a better temperament and are easier to interact with.
Lastly, Mr van Cuylenberg and Mr Ong may be thankful to know that cats generally hide their waste, usually by burying it in soil.
If they are troubled by faeces left on pavements, the odds are that it isn't a feline culprit. If they are experiencing cat-related problems in their estate, the Cat Welfare Society is more than willing to volunteer our services to help mediate the situation.
Once again, the Cat Welfare Society would like to thank both DJs for their interesting proposals and thank everyone who is prepared to contribute constructively to the dialogue.
