blue and white dream
I am really getting quite amused by some of the letters to the ST Forum with regards to the keeping of cats in HDB. Yes, I do think that the ruling to bar HDB residents from keeping cats is really outdated and should be revised. I also think that the argument that the correct way to dealing with the issue should be the education of cat owners to ensure that their pets (cats and dogs alike) are desexed and behave in a manner that does not cause annoyance to the neighbours.
A letter that really tickled me was the one where the guy listed five reasons on why the ruling to bar cats should stay. He went one further by urging HDB to ban HDB residents from keeping dogs as well. He listed one of the reasons as the bite from dogs can cause rabies. That reason is totally laughable because Singapore has been rabies free since the 1950s. So unless that guy is living in that era, he really has to accept that fact that the chances of him striking 4D is probably higher than chance of him catching rabies from a rabies carrying animal.
He also said that cats might scratch people. Yes, cats may scratch people but seriously, it is highly unlikely that a cat will go about scratching people (especially strangers) for the sake of scratching. Unless they suddenly feel threatened or they are fighting with another cat, they are unlikely to scratch a total stranger. Even if they scratch a person for the latter reason, it is purely accidental. Moreover, common sense will tell a person not to go near a pair of fighting animals.
He stated that noise of the pets can create a so much noise that it will disturb the neighbours. Well, that is some what true, but it can be massively minimised with responsible pet owners who really care for their pets. The main problems with cats is the mating calls that they make which I agree can be very irritating when people are living in such close confines; but that can be solved by desexing the cat. When it comes to dogs, proper training and attention will no doubt have to lessen the amount and volume of barking. It is unfair to say that they will not bark or meow because that is simply a way that they communicate. Is that guy going to say that neighbours ought to be banned because they cause disturbance to others?
As much as he tries to argue his case across, it really does not hold much water. The current debate is and should really be more of encouraging responsible ownership. That gentleman's point of smell from pets would not be valid if the owners practice proper pet hygiene. Even his argument of allowing pets will lead to an increase of animal abuse is unfounded (based on what he read from ST on the "many instances of animal abuse". I do believe that most of the reported cases in ST involve strays and not pets. With the legalisation of keeping cats in HDB, people will (hopefully) have lesser reasons to feed the strays as they can now keep cats in homes. Hopefully, this will lead to a decline in the number of strays.
At the end of the day, Singaporeans should learn to be more accommodating and learn to accept their neighbours' pets. Pet owners should also play their part in ensuring that their pet do not cause distress to others around and think carefully before getting a pet. As many animal groups and sensible people will say, pets are not a toy but a lifelong commitment. People should not get them on impulse only to realise that they do not have the capability or time to take care of their pet. Also, people should realise that animals do animal things. This may sound so logical but people actually give up their dogs for barking, digging etc.
It is important also that people train their pets from the start. So pet owners should invest time in bringing their pets for training classes. These classes will also help their pets by giving them the chance to interact with others from their species and this will result in less fear related aggression. I know pet shops will hate me for saying this, but animal shelters like the SPCA are really a good source of getting pets. Would be pet owners should also consider getting adults rather than puppies or kittens as generally, adult dogs and cats make better pets and require less training.
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Do these animals not deserve another home? These are not animals from pet shops but animals from an animal shelter.
he spoke at 5:31 pm