I'm sure all of you have seen strays before (or heard them, in some cases). The cats that roam about the streets at night, that topple your rubbish bins, that mate noisily on the roof. Nevertheless, it is an heartwarming sight to see them grooming themselves or mewing happily at the moon.
However, the cat population, when not controlled, can compound and increase out of control: a pair of mating cats can produce up to 324 progeny every 2 years. This can lead to many issues for the public: cats can become rather territorial and will caterwaul and fight at night. They can also scratch or injure members of the public, being overly defensive. Cats will also defecate and urinate freely, creating hygiene problems. Thus, the AVA culls 13,000 cats every year; it has been doing so for the past 20 years.
It is strange to me that our leaders often call for us to be more compassionate, more courteous, but actively continue to cull these innocent cats in large numbers. To quote Ms Geraldine Soh Geok Lian, in her letter to the Straits Times Forums: "As a country with First World infrastructure, the town council's aim of a stray-less Tampines shows Singapore's backward mentality, lacking in the compassion Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wishes to inculcate in our countrymen."
Is mindless culling really the only way to control these animals? I think not. Surely there must be some more humane way to control these furry animals.
Even the government knows this; the Stray Cat Rehabilitation Scheme (SCRS) was established to control the cat population by capturing, sterilising and then releasing stray cats. The AVA even began announcing the success of the scheme and the benefits of sterilisation. However, the AVA issued this statement a few months after announcing the Scheme's success: "The Scheme is not working well, and AVA has received an increased number of complaints related to stray cats [...] the Scheme has been suspended pending further review..." This statement was made in 2003.
So we keep culling cats while we think of a solution? The inconsistency of the AVA leaves me in doubt as to whether they are sincerely concerned about solving this issue in a humane manner.
Surely there must be some way to solve this problem?
http://www.wildsingapore.com/news/20051112/051118-2.htm
http://www.ava.gov.sg/NR/rdonlyres/A92C9FE2-A523-450B-9F62-B3564E699F25/8487/attach52.pdf
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A rather good piece, which evokes the reader's emotions to an extent that they would start thinking about the topic themselves. Though perhaps you could have added in what the government could try to do; what else could be done if culling is not acceptable? By the way, you kept repeating "surely there must be something..."
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