This is an extract from Todayonline - Voices : A friend who volunteers to assist her town council in resolving complaints about cats was recently asked to ''remove'' a cat..
What happen is Town Council and HBD have for years been the Grand Master of Taiji - they have washed their hands clean from issues relating to cat in HDB. They rely on animal welfare groups to mediate and resolve the issue with resident who has issue with cat in HDB. They just want to be the 'good guy'.
The problem with abandon cats in HDB and irresponsible pet ownership lies with HDB outdated policy of not allowing residents to keep cat. So there is no guidelines on it and cats do not need to be microchip as 'officially' they are not allow in HDB.
Lost cats cannot be traced and owners who abandon their cats, also cannot be traced. SPCA has a low adoption rate for abandon cats since majority of the population live in HDB. Besides, most animals taken in by SPCA are put down and only about 10% are adopted. So folks who do not want to live with the guilt of their pet being put down, start dumping them at HDB void decks. Another reason could be it is more convenient than making a trip to SPCA.
More prominent group like SPCA is sticking to their old routine of accepting abandon animals but not addressing the root cause of the problem. They should spend more time petitioning to HDB and gathering ground support to push for change.
What we can do as individual, besides voicing our displeasure with HDB - is to be proactive. There are always some inconsiderate animal care givers. If I see them in the act, I will talk to them politely. Normally they response positively. If I see food remains at void deck - I clear them up. Our little act can help minimise complaints.
S'pore is becoming so sterile with our obsession with cleanliness. Compassion and tolerant can help us adopt the attitude of 'Live and let live'.
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