MAY 28

MAY 28, 2003
Animal lovers bent on saving strays

PET farm owner Eric Lim has slashed his boarding rates for cats by two-thirds, to $5 a day, in a show of support for cat lovers.

His cattery in Pasir Ris has received more than 200 felines in the past four days and is expecting another 100 in the next few days, he said.

'Money is important, but saving lives even more so,' said the 40-year-old, who was moved to do his part after seeing 'pet-lovers putting in so much effort to save the strays'.

Before the Government stepped up the culling of cats last week, his Ericsson Pet Farm had about 300 cats on its four-acre plot. He is confident he can accommodate 1,000 cats in all.

The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) has intensified its daily culling of strays to more than 45, from 35 before last Friday.

While the link between cats and Sars has not been proven, the AVA said that it was for environmental and public health reasons that town councils were helping to round up strays, especially those found at and around hawker centres and markets.

Four other pet farms told The Straits Times that they do not have any space to house strays.

Still, animal lovers are not slowing their efforts to save the strays.

The Cat Welfare Society estimates that more than 200 have been rescued and taken in by its volunteers in the past few days.

HDB residents, however, are not allowed to keep cats. If they do, they might be evicted from their homes.

In the face of these obstacles, Ms Cathy Strong, president of the Animal Lovers League, said the last resort would be to send the strays to the Noah's Ark animal shelter in Johor, Malaysia. About 100 have been taken there.

Felines aside, stray dogs too are being culled, according to Mr Ricky Yeo, 35, president of Action for Singapore Dogs.

The software programmer has yet to pluck the canines off the street because he is still scouting for accommodation for them. 'Stray dogs are usually mid-sized and they're not allowed in HDB flats,' he said.