Inaugural grant for animal welfare projects launched

Ryan Huang, Channel NewsAsia 4 Sep 08;

SINGAPORE: More animal welfare initiatives are set to take off in Singapore, thanks to the launch of an inaugural grant.

Animal welfare projects have been handed a boost, with eight groups - majority of them youths - winning a grant of about S$1,000 each for their projects.

The Animal Protectors Grant was launched by four local groups, which comprise of an animal welfare charity and three university student organisations.

The grant aims to allow winners to focus more on their projects, instead of worrying about funding.

Executive director of Animal Concerns Research & Education Society, Louis Ng, said: "It's a really good example of active citizenry here, where today we have members of the public from all walks of life come together to fight for a common goal to make a difference to animals and the community here in Singapore."

Most of the winning ideas focus on raising awareness of illegal trading of exotic pets and sterilisation of stray dogs and cats.

One group is producing a documentary on responsible pet ownership, while another is looking into story books for children.

A member from one of the winning groups, Kevin Brandy Budiman, said: "We surveyed some audience, about 30 people. Most of them say a story book is an interesting way to educate children. And we believe by educating children, it will be more efficient - they will have the foundation to love animals."

The eight groups will present the results of their projects at the Singapore Animal Welfare Symposium in May next year.

-CNA/yt

Youth step up for the animals
Eight groups get first seed-funding-ever foranimal welfare initiatives
Ong Dai Lin, Today Online 5 Sep 08;

ONE group of Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC) students wants to hold a week-long carnival to raise awareness — complete with “cruelty-free” vegetarian food and a petition to ban foie gras.

Another team from Admiralty Secondary School plans to produce a documentary about animal welfare, which they hope will be shown in other schools and even incorporated into the Civics and Moral Education curriculum.

These young people don’t just love animals but are also out to persuade their peers to respect their fellow creatures. The students are among the eight groups that yesterday received the inaugural Animal Protectors Grant.

The grant is Singapore’s first to provide seed funding specially for animal welfare initiatives. It is managed by The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres), NTU Animal Lovers Society, NUS Students’ Animal Welfare Group, and People for Animal Welfare at SMU.

The groups will each get sums ranging from $915 to $1,350, sponsored by the Lee Foundation which has been supporting Acres since 2001.

Significantly, 32 of the 34 participants are youth.

Raffles Institution studentKevin Brandy Budiman — who with his schoolmates want to reach out through storybooks that tell of the selling of turtle eggs and abuse of primates in lab experiments — said they had surveyed some 30 people.

“Most of them say a storybook is an interesting way to educate children. And we believe by educating children, it will be more efficient; they will have the foundation to love animals.”

Calling the groups’ proposals “active citizenry at its best”, Acres executive director Louis Ng said: “We had the first Singapore Animal WelfareSymposium this year and we don’twant the public to just learn aboutanimal welfare. We want them to takeaction.”

Two groups focused on the issue of the illegal wildlife trade. One proposes putting up posters in pet shops, identifying animals that are often bought and sold in shops, and the penalties involved. Students from Raffles Girls’ School have pledged to fight the exotic pet trade by holding roadshows.

The groups will present the results of their projects next May, at the second Singapore Animal WelfareSymposium.

Problem of strays? 'Cat cafes' may help
NTU campus project is one of 8 animal welfare ideas to get Lee Foundation funds
Ang Yiying, Straits Times 5 Sep 08;
THE small population of stray cats on the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) campus has been the subject of complaints from people who are not really enthusiastic about cats or animals in general.

Computer science lecturer and cat lover Kevin Anthony Jones, 51, is hoping to see these strays fed regularly and responsibly, and sterilised to control their numbers. He wants to do a study to show that this can be achieved.

His solution: more 'cat cafes' on campus, where the strays can be fed in fixed spots and monitored. This way, the campus is not littered with uneaten food; managing the strays will also keep the animals out of the way of people who dislike them.

Mr Anthony has just received $1,300 in funding to set up his feeding spots and publish a paper on the subject. He and seven groups of animal rights activists, including five consisting of students, have received a total of $8,822 from the Lee Foundation for their animal welfare projects.

Three student animal welfare groups and the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) are administering the fund, dubbed the Animal Protectors Grant.

Acres executive director Louis Ng said the 14 applications received were judged on their 'creativity, sustainability, newness and impact'.

Among the other successful applicants is a group of four Anglo-Chinese Junior College students who want to run an 'Animal Rights' week in their school, and a group of four youngsters seeking to help control the population of stray dogs through a nationwide programme to trap, neuter and then return the animals to the neighbourhoods where they were found.

Two other student groups have chosen to focus their projects on the illegal wildlife trade. One, comprising four students from three different schools, will put up posters about the illegal trade in animals in pet shops and at the airport. The group's spokesman says research has shown that posters strike fear in animal smugglers, shaking their confidence that they can get away with running an illegal trade.

The groups will present the results of their projects at the second Singapore Animal Welfare Symposium in May next year.