JUNE 8

JUNE 8, 2003
_{Cat lovers save 2,000
strays from culling}

They want to raise $300,000 to build cattery for up to 3,000 cats; $3,000 needed for monthly upkeep

TWO thousand stray cats have been rescued since the intensified culling of strays first made headlines late last month.

Animal lovers are keeping the cats in their homes until a cattery can be built for them, said Animal Lovers League president Cathy Strong.

Ms Strong said the league needs to raise $300,000 to build this 'boarding house' in Seletar West Farmway 5 by the end of this year, plus another $3,000 a month to maintain it.

Earlier, it had been reported that the league wanted to house the strays in Johor, Malaysia.

But since that is opposed by the authorities on both sides of the Causeway, establishing a cattery seemed to be a more feasible alternative.

The Seletar cattery will be able to house up to 3,000 strays.

The league is also keen on buying a plot of land from the state to house more cats. It needs to raise $2 million to $3 million to buy it.

'It will house cats for pet owners at a subsidised rate,' said Ms Strong.

Cat lovers, meanwhile, continue to speak out against the 'inhumane and cruel' move to reduce the number of strays here.

Businesswoman Helen Teo, 44, said her three cats had made her more patient and caring.

Stroking Ben, an 18-month-old stray she adopted from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, she said: 'Seeing him roll around and paw the TV screen makes me laugh and helps me de-stress.

'Cats don't bite unless they've been abused. And they're clean animals. My cats refuse to eat from dirty bowls,' she added.

Ms Teo, who owns a kitchen design-and-build shop at Park Mall, has pledged half the proceeds from two days' sales of home decoration items to the building fund.

Receptionist Sandra Peece, 46, said her ginger cat Billy had helped her cope with losing her mother in 1998.

'I would be praying for her and he would sit on my lap. It's like he knew I was sad and wanted to comfort me.'