A Meeting With An Ear-Notched Cat (a Sharing By Koo)

It is indeed heartening to know that ear-notching (and hence, neutering) is being practised by more people in our community these days.

Here is a sharing by Koo:

From:�TTDI Koo
Date: Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 9:56 AM
Subject: SS2 cat
To: chankahyein <chankahyein@gmail.com>

Hi Dr Chan,

Just want to share that last Saturday, I was at a PJ morning market
when I encountered a friendly adult cat. My first instinct was to
worry about her because the area was designated as Zon Bersih and one
of the local council’s goal was for the area to be stray-free.
Luckily (for the sake of the strays), it seemed that this initiative
is just a passing fad as a nearby knocked-down Zon Bersih signboard
has not been repaired.

She was overly-friendly and would meow and rub against my ankles. I
thought she was hungry and went to a nearby convenience store and
bought a kitten wet food but to my surprise, she was interested at all
when I tried to feed her. I guess she was just looking for some
company. When I got down to have a closer look at her, I realised that
her ear was notched which meant she was already spayed! I guess she
has a guardian angel who’s implementing TNRM by not just spaying her
but obviously, feeding her regularly too.

It’s heartening to see this living proof of TNRM success and
hopefully, such encounters will inspire others to join the effort.

Thanks and best regards,
Koo

�I’m neutered, see my ear? It’s tipped.

Bless the caregiver who has got this cat neutered and ear-notched. The cat is probably friendly because she trusts humans (and this probably means she has been treated well by them, ie. have had pleasant experiences with humans).

But what is this Zon Bersih all about?

Apparently, it is about this…

In the above poster, it shows (upon closer examination) the picture of a dog defecating.

Now, if this means that pets are allowed as long as they do not defecate in the zone, then that’s good. It would mean that pet owners have to be responsible to pick up after their pets and community animal caregivers would have to pick up after their charges too. That’s fair enough.

However, here is another document obtained from a certain Zon Bersih from a particular area (provided by a reader). It describes what our “responsibilities” are in maintaining this Zon Bersih:

This one says no�pets within the Zon Bersih. I wonder if this is a standard criteria for all Zon Bersihs or only this particular one as this document is specially for a certain area.

IF it applies to all zones, then it is sad to note that while many advanced countries are moving towards being more animal-friendly, our country is going backwards in this area.

And how are the authorities going to “bersihkan” these designated Zon Bersihs?

Let’s hope it’s not capture-and-kill, because IF it is, how bersih can that be?

Capture-and-kill is still practised in this country whereas many other countries have moved on or at least partially adopted TNR (trap-neuter-return) as a more compassionate method of control.

It has been documented time and again that capture-and-kill merely creates a vacuum and it is only a matter of time when new unneutered strays will migrate in and the problem is back to square one. CNRM (returning neutered animals to the colony) is definitely a more compassionate and effective option.

Well, elections is coming, folks. It is wishful thinking to hope that the politicians would listen to our appeals for the street animals (yes, the most downtrodden beings on earth).

But we will not give up and will continue asking for the one and only request we (AnimalCare) has ever asked for:

Please, please spare our ear-notched animals.

That’s all. �Just that ONE request.

Is it possible, Mr and Mdm Politician?

It applies to dogs too!

Mr and Mdm Politician, please spare a thought for our street animals.

They cannot vote (and we, the animal caregivers, are a small minority, grossly outnumbered), but animals are an integral and important part of our eco-system and our environment. This is their earth too. Please live and let live. Please do not capture and kill anymore.

What goes around, comes around, folks.

Killing doesn’t solve problems.�

Source: http://myanimalcare.org/2013/04/23/a-meeting-with-an-ear-notched-cat-a-sharing-by-koo/

Tweet

AnimalCare

AnimalCare is a registered society that promotes caregiving to street animals and helps in their neutering and medical needs. AnimalCare has a Medical Fund, Food Fund and Education Fund.

More Articles   |   Pets For Adoption   |   Website