Hello friends.
4 days ago
Monday, March 16, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
cat abuse at choa chu kang
The 'worst case of cat mutilation' was discovered at Blk 550 Choa Chu Kang on Street 52 on 21 Feb 2009.
Last Sunday, a group of us went door to door in the vicinity to see what information we could find about the case as well as to ask the residents to participate in a petition for more security measures to be put in place in the area.
Most of the residents were not aware of what had happened in their neighbourhood, although a few had seen the SPCA reward posters on the notice boards or read the TNP article. But after being told what happened to the cat, many were noticeably shaken and eager to ask for something to be done.
This was not a case of a misguided hot-headed or frightened individual protecting themselves or their territory from an errant cat. Appalling as those cases are, many might shake their heads but ultimately, find no real bearing on their own safety. This crime on their doorstep is a grotesquely meticulous, pre-meditated act with a highly lethal weapon, very much the work of a troubled individual seeking release in the worst possible way. Enough studies have shown the correlation of such violence against animals to violence against humans and that message has made more than a few residents sit up and take notice.
And this was not an isolated case in Choa Chu Kang. Equally gruesome was the pregnant tri-colour cat found on 29 Nov 2008 at Blk 130 Choa Chu Kang Ave 1 with her stomach slit open and guts hanging out. That makes two cases in Choa Chu Kang where mutilation with a knife or sharp object is evident. Over the years in that estate, the caregiver has found and cared for countless more injured or dead cats, bashed in, run over by bicycles, thrown from high floors.
Statistics on animal abuse in Singapore number in the hundreds every year – 800 on average. Most of these are pet-related, outcomes of irresponsibility, negligence and plain old stupidity. These perpetrators are usually ordinary people with some vital deficiency and we know there are too many of them littering the earth. If education, threat of fines and public humiliation cannot get through to them, well, let’s hope there are enough busybodies in this world to call them out on their shortcomings.
Just as importantly, we need to take a magnifying glass to the actual number of violent crimes committed against animals every year and the mode of abuse. We’d like to think the individuals who would take these actions are few but they are also gallingly hard to apprehend. Better profiling and records can make all the difference. Perhaps SPCA or the police are monitoring these cases but as a lay person, the woman was not able to get much more information than the yearly reported statistics.
Hand in hand with that, we would like to remind people to report all abuse cases to SPCA or to the police, if only so that a comprehensive database of abuse can be built that might force authorities to take closer notice of this insidious underlying threat to society. It might one day even help build a case against a perpetrator.
As the woman was assigned the block directly next to Blk 550, she and another volunteer encountered quite a few households who heard distressed cat cries several nights in a row around the time the body of the kitten was found. Their hearts sank when they heard this. One young girl who told them about the cries was also visibly cut up. Let’s hope she never hears those cries again in her neighbourhood.
Last Sunday, a group of us went door to door in the vicinity to see what information we could find about the case as well as to ask the residents to participate in a petition for more security measures to be put in place in the area.
Most of the residents were not aware of what had happened in their neighbourhood, although a few had seen the SPCA reward posters on the notice boards or read the TNP article. But after being told what happened to the cat, many were noticeably shaken and eager to ask for something to be done.
This was not a case of a misguided hot-headed or frightened individual protecting themselves or their territory from an errant cat. Appalling as those cases are, many might shake their heads but ultimately, find no real bearing on their own safety. This crime on their doorstep is a grotesquely meticulous, pre-meditated act with a highly lethal weapon, very much the work of a troubled individual seeking release in the worst possible way. Enough studies have shown the correlation of such violence against animals to violence against humans and that message has made more than a few residents sit up and take notice.
And this was not an isolated case in Choa Chu Kang. Equally gruesome was the pregnant tri-colour cat found on 29 Nov 2008 at Blk 130 Choa Chu Kang Ave 1 with her stomach slit open and guts hanging out. That makes two cases in Choa Chu Kang where mutilation with a knife or sharp object is evident. Over the years in that estate, the caregiver has found and cared for countless more injured or dead cats, bashed in, run over by bicycles, thrown from high floors.
Statistics on animal abuse in Singapore number in the hundreds every year – 800 on average. Most of these are pet-related, outcomes of irresponsibility, negligence and plain old stupidity. These perpetrators are usually ordinary people with some vital deficiency and we know there are too many of them littering the earth. If education, threat of fines and public humiliation cannot get through to them, well, let’s hope there are enough busybodies in this world to call them out on their shortcomings.
Just as importantly, we need to take a magnifying glass to the actual number of violent crimes committed against animals every year and the mode of abuse. We’d like to think the individuals who would take these actions are few but they are also gallingly hard to apprehend. Better profiling and records can make all the difference. Perhaps SPCA or the police are monitoring these cases but as a lay person, the woman was not able to get much more information than the yearly reported statistics.
Hand in hand with that, we would like to remind people to report all abuse cases to SPCA or to the police, if only so that a comprehensive database of abuse can be built that might force authorities to take closer notice of this insidious underlying threat to society. It might one day even help build a case against a perpetrator.
As the woman was assigned the block directly next to Blk 550, she and another volunteer encountered quite a few households who heard distressed cat cries several nights in a row around the time the body of the kitten was found. Their hearts sank when they heard this. One young girl who told them about the cries was also visibly cut up. Let’s hope she never hears those cries again in her neighbourhood.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
conversations on cat welfare II
Several significant connections were made at the cat welfare meeting between active individuals immersed in cat management in one way or another – TNRM, rescue, fostering, feeding.
Beyond cat management practices, potential advocacy and education/awareness platforms were shared and discussed. These ideas are being ironed out before they can be usefully shared. There is one they can start working on that will benefit from inputs from the wider cat community – you.
They plan to produce and disseminate a smart little booklet for general public consumption. More specifically, for people who don’t like cats. The booklet will educate, entertain and more importantly, provide practical, humane solutions for avoiding cat encounters on the streets and on their lawns.
This, it is hoped, will work towards reducing human-cat conflicts. Working on it might even open cat advocators’ eyes to the predicaments of those who find us less than adorable, even sinister and menacing. Frustrating as their phobias and prejudices are, bashing them really hasn’t gotten us any further along in our goals of getting cats into HDB flats and for the government to stop culling. Satisfying, yes but here’s the much needed Plan B.
Through the next few weeks, drafts of the book will be put up on this blog for comments. The woman’s initial thinking is that it will be in a no-nonsense B/W format downloadable online, also easily printed on any printer by anyone and freely given out to family, colleagues and neighbours.
Owing to her animal welfare and eco interests, the woman has had the good fortune of meeting many socially conscious, passionate people like the cat activists and volunteers who attended “Conversations”. Justifiably, she has been encouraged to think that perhaps people in Singapore of her age and younger are differentiating themselves from those before them by becoming more engaged and more involved in the social and in the political.
If you think the same, you would be wrong. Findings from a recent study on local Y-Gen’s attitudes will knock you off your feet. Y-Geners (born 1977 to 1997) are found to be a very pragmatic lot – they want remuneration for their work. No surprises there. Yet while ability to make decisions and implement changes is cited as the main reason for choosing not to work for the government, a whopping 77% indicated that they should not have a voice/say in any government policies.
So let there be no lingering delusions of grandeur for us rabble-rousers. We have no audience. If the message is too robust for local sensitivities, we will be like a posthumously decorated JBJ making his final stand outside Raffles City, ignored.
That's why the book idea is worth a fair shot. Cat advocators need to speak the regular language of the general population and of the government. As important as words like ‘compassion’, ‘karma’ and ‘rights’ are, they really only work in novels, on TV series and in America. They don’t work in campaigns, on letters and in forums simply because they are too elusive, too vague to bridge the psychological gaps between the 23% and the larger 77%. we need grounded words like 'responsibility', 'co-operation' and 'mutual benefit'. It’s worth thinking about.
Beyond cat management practices, potential advocacy and education/awareness platforms were shared and discussed. These ideas are being ironed out before they can be usefully shared. There is one they can start working on that will benefit from inputs from the wider cat community – you.
They plan to produce and disseminate a smart little booklet for general public consumption. More specifically, for people who don’t like cats. The booklet will educate, entertain and more importantly, provide practical, humane solutions for avoiding cat encounters on the streets and on their lawns.
This, it is hoped, will work towards reducing human-cat conflicts. Working on it might even open cat advocators’ eyes to the predicaments of those who find us less than adorable, even sinister and menacing. Frustrating as their phobias and prejudices are, bashing them really hasn’t gotten us any further along in our goals of getting cats into HDB flats and for the government to stop culling. Satisfying, yes but here’s the much needed Plan B.
Through the next few weeks, drafts of the book will be put up on this blog for comments. The woman’s initial thinking is that it will be in a no-nonsense B/W format downloadable online, also easily printed on any printer by anyone and freely given out to family, colleagues and neighbours.
Owing to her animal welfare and eco interests, the woman has had the good fortune of meeting many socially conscious, passionate people like the cat activists and volunteers who attended “Conversations”. Justifiably, she has been encouraged to think that perhaps people in Singapore of her age and younger are differentiating themselves from those before them by becoming more engaged and more involved in the social and in the political.
If you think the same, you would be wrong. Findings from a recent study on local Y-Gen’s attitudes will knock you off your feet. Y-Geners (born 1977 to 1997) are found to be a very pragmatic lot – they want remuneration for their work. No surprises there. Yet while ability to make decisions and implement changes is cited as the main reason for choosing not to work for the government, a whopping 77% indicated that they should not have a voice/say in any government policies.
So let there be no lingering delusions of grandeur for us rabble-rousers. We have no audience. If the message is too robust for local sensitivities, we will be like a posthumously decorated JBJ making his final stand outside Raffles City, ignored.
That's why the book idea is worth a fair shot. Cat advocators need to speak the regular language of the general population and of the government. As important as words like ‘compassion’, ‘karma’ and ‘rights’ are, they really only work in novels, on TV series and in America. They don’t work in campaigns, on letters and in forums simply because they are too elusive, too vague to bridge the psychological gaps between the 23% and the larger 77%. we need grounded words like 'responsibility', 'co-operation' and 'mutual benefit'. It’s worth thinking about.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
continuing stroke of luck with new TC officer
We have a new TC officer and she is a cat-lover! There has been some complaints about the number of community cats in the estate but she lets it be known that the TC abides by the general rule that sterilised cats will not be removed.
The sun is finally shining on our estate.
But the area she is referring to is a problematic one that keeps us busy catching and sterilising every few months. There must be at least one chronic breeder upstairs if not more. The officer has spotted kittens in one of the corridors and the woman will hopefully be able to follow the lead this time to the culpable unit.
The woman also reconnected with a feeder who discovered an old hoarder in the neighbourhood. The old cleaner lives with her mentally challenged brother and 20 cats, although the number can’t be confirmed as the old woman opens her door only enough to speak through it. Even so, the putrid stench can fell a grown man. Only seasoned cat aunties like the woman and the feeder are able to stand their ground without so much as an involuntary nose twitch as they coax the old woman to let them sterilize and install grills for much-needed ventilation.
They met minor success when the old woman agreed to neuter her male cats. The whole experience brought forth geriatric tears as she passed the cats out to the woman one by one. It’s a start. She has still to relent on the females and help in cleaning and grilling. At least there will be no more new litters for now.
These are the small victories that the woman keeps her eyes on when the decision to fund cat welfare efforts becomes more complex in our present economic climate. Yet all the more, it calls for dedication and determination from volunteers and sponsors to stay the course. It will really be a crying shame if we let our collective labours be undone by a prolonged but ultimately temporary bad situation.
Ginger needs you!
The sun is finally shining on our estate.
But the area she is referring to is a problematic one that keeps us busy catching and sterilising every few months. There must be at least one chronic breeder upstairs if not more. The officer has spotted kittens in one of the corridors and the woman will hopefully be able to follow the lead this time to the culpable unit.
The woman also reconnected with a feeder who discovered an old hoarder in the neighbourhood. The old cleaner lives with her mentally challenged brother and 20 cats, although the number can’t be confirmed as the old woman opens her door only enough to speak through it. Even so, the putrid stench can fell a grown man. Only seasoned cat aunties like the woman and the feeder are able to stand their ground without so much as an involuntary nose twitch as they coax the old woman to let them sterilize and install grills for much-needed ventilation.
They met minor success when the old woman agreed to neuter her male cats. The whole experience brought forth geriatric tears as she passed the cats out to the woman one by one. It’s a start. She has still to relent on the females and help in cleaning and grilling. At least there will be no more new litters for now.
These are the small victories that the woman keeps her eyes on when the decision to fund cat welfare efforts becomes more complex in our present economic climate. Yet all the more, it calls for dedication and determination from volunteers and sponsors to stay the course. It will really be a crying shame if we let our collective labours be undone by a prolonged but ultimately temporary bad situation.
Friday, February 20, 2009
conversations on cat welfare
the cat blogosphere has been ablaze with fresh activity since ava’s banal “no easy response to stray cats” rejoinder to the spirited TODAY feature on Dr Tan Chek Wee “the outspoken doc”.
the govt’s arguments about cats being a nuisance and hazard are laundered yearly right down to its bare threads and so past its sell-by date, it’s heartening to see people still with politically-correct words left in their defense. i only have one, @#%.
then the grisly discovery of 45 cats buried in seletar stunned the nation. cat lovers grieved. seletar residents fretted. cat non-lovers were appropriately respectful. the media prepared for a bonanza. and how the authorities must have braced themselves for an impending public relations problem.
true to fashion, TNP sold many papers with their provocative features on cat aids and Tony Tan Tuan Khoon. they freaked the public and gave Tony and cousin Choo their cringe-worthy airtime. but they also ignited a coherent campaign against govt funding and support for vigilante cat trapping by ordinary citizens that might actually stick.
it is a point worth driving home to the powers upstairs: rubber-stamping culling as a reasonable method of reducing strays spawns the likes of Tony, one civic-minded law-abiding poster boy no respectable govt agency wants to be associated with.
while the cat community keeps the dialogue alive on blogs, on forums, on facebook, perhaps it is time for a parallel approach. as we continue the battle of words, letters and petitions, perhaps it is time to see it from the govt’s perspectives and offer concrete solutions to the sticky issues that they cite time and again as deterrents towards more progressive and humane policies. and this may actually require working alongside the govt to tackle their pet issue – reducing public complaints on strays. it’s a tall order but one worth pursuing.
already, AVA numbers show a definite down trend in nuisance calls. CWS should take the credit for that for their relentless effort in engaging TCs and AVA, providing support for caregivers and channeling resources to education, mediation and to sterilisation. that barrel needs to keep rolling.
and still there is always room for fresh ideas and platforms if the right people can come together on it. and that is where “Conversations on Cat Welfare” comes in. we are meeting tomorrow 21 Feb 3pm at Food#03 on 109 Rowell Rd.
this informal meeting hopes to identify current gaps in cat welfare practices, areas of collaboration and ultimately spin off projects that will help the cause. these can eventually be taken up individually or collectively.
to start the ball rolling, some information has been collated to provide perspective on the cat welfare ecosystem in singapore. this is by no means complete and inputs are welcomed to make this a robust repository for the benefit of everyone. if anything, our message is that it is time for the cat community to work together despite differences, share information as much as possible and to support each other’s ideas and efforts, because the stray cats downstairs can only benefit from more of them, not less.
click on images to enlarge
CCM = community cat management
AWO = animal welfare organisations
Before 1998
*150,000 stray cats
*13,000 stray cats culled annually
*14,000 cat nuisance calls
1998 – Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) (then PPD – Primary Production Dept) implemented Stray Cat Rehabilitation Scheme (SCRS)
2001 – 28,000 stray cats impounded
2003 – AVA terminates scheme
*80,000 stray cats (10,000 sterilised)
*16 Town Councils (TC) & 500 volunteers on TNRM
*Cat nuisance calls spike during SARS, sterilised cats also at risk
*AVA & TCs culling bill up 20% ($62,000) to $598,944 to catch and cull 7,682 cats and 4,744 dogs
2006 – AVA supports sterilisation by volunteers with subsidy and communication to TCs
if you have an interest in cat welfare, feel free to come join us.
the govt’s arguments about cats being a nuisance and hazard are laundered yearly right down to its bare threads and so past its sell-by date, it’s heartening to see people still with politically-correct words left in their defense. i only have one, @#%.
then the grisly discovery of 45 cats buried in seletar stunned the nation. cat lovers grieved. seletar residents fretted. cat non-lovers were appropriately respectful. the media prepared for a bonanza. and how the authorities must have braced themselves for an impending public relations problem.
true to fashion, TNP sold many papers with their provocative features on cat aids and Tony Tan Tuan Khoon. they freaked the public and gave Tony and cousin Choo their cringe-worthy airtime. but they also ignited a coherent campaign against govt funding and support for vigilante cat trapping by ordinary citizens that might actually stick.
it is a point worth driving home to the powers upstairs: rubber-stamping culling as a reasonable method of reducing strays spawns the likes of Tony, one civic-minded law-abiding poster boy no respectable govt agency wants to be associated with.
while the cat community keeps the dialogue alive on blogs, on forums, on facebook, perhaps it is time for a parallel approach. as we continue the battle of words, letters and petitions, perhaps it is time to see it from the govt’s perspectives and offer concrete solutions to the sticky issues that they cite time and again as deterrents towards more progressive and humane policies. and this may actually require working alongside the govt to tackle their pet issue – reducing public complaints on strays. it’s a tall order but one worth pursuing.
already, AVA numbers show a definite down trend in nuisance calls. CWS should take the credit for that for their relentless effort in engaging TCs and AVA, providing support for caregivers and channeling resources to education, mediation and to sterilisation. that barrel needs to keep rolling.
and still there is always room for fresh ideas and platforms if the right people can come together on it. and that is where “Conversations on Cat Welfare” comes in. we are meeting tomorrow 21 Feb 3pm at Food#03 on 109 Rowell Rd.
this informal meeting hopes to identify current gaps in cat welfare practices, areas of collaboration and ultimately spin off projects that will help the cause. these can eventually be taken up individually or collectively.
to start the ball rolling, some information has been collated to provide perspective on the cat welfare ecosystem in singapore. this is by no means complete and inputs are welcomed to make this a robust repository for the benefit of everyone. if anything, our message is that it is time for the cat community to work together despite differences, share information as much as possible and to support each other’s ideas and efforts, because the stray cats downstairs can only benefit from more of them, not less.
CCM = community cat management
AWO = animal welfare organisations
Before 1998
*150,000 stray cats
*13,000 stray cats culled annually
*14,000 cat nuisance calls
1998 – Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) (then PPD – Primary Production Dept) implemented Stray Cat Rehabilitation Scheme (SCRS)
2001 – 28,000 stray cats impounded
2003 – AVA terminates scheme
*80,000 stray cats (10,000 sterilised)
*16 Town Councils (TC) & 500 volunteers on TNRM
*Cat nuisance calls spike during SARS, sterilised cats also at risk
*AVA & TCs culling bill up 20% ($62,000) to $598,944 to catch and cull 7,682 cats and 4,744 dogs
2006 – AVA supports sterilisation by volunteers with subsidy and communication to TCs
if you have an interest in cat welfare, feel free to come join us.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
slumcats can be millionaires too
i can see the vivid unforgiving streets of mumbai in her thought cloud. in her 2am reverie, the woman tells me why she can’t go to india
she will come back to our flat with no less than
ten babies
five monkeys
eight dogs
twenty cats
and one elephant
three with four legs between them
two blind
one abused
she will raise the children as her own
four will be teachers
three counsellors
two social entrepreneurs
one politician
they will be religious
three as muslims
three as hindus
three as christians
in pairs, they will
save strays
save whales
champion the environment
champion the poor
while one writes about it
and her favourite child, the one with the unhappy eyes under a fringe of curls
he is the godless vigilante
she will raise him on gun justice for silky gangster, mercenary, criminal scalps
the thought sends serotonin bursts through her cheerless insomniac neural crevices. but just before her hand grows still on my tipped ear and she drifts away, another occurs to her
the children will more likely rebel against their crazy hippie adopted mother. they will be sterling citizens
four as lawyers
three as bankers
two integrated resort developers
and one game show host
sweet unhappy dreams
Saturday, February 07, 2009
rule no. 5 - don’t balk at their poverty
it is a shabby place with little creature comforts but there is nothing to despise, to pity or to be ashamed of here.
this is the kind of simplicity and pride that ah ma’s own children, closer to our generation, cannot embrace and shrink away from. maybe in the name of progress, maybe of conformity but mostly of this insane crippling quality called ‘face’.
but ah ma soldiers on. and she is laughing in our powdered faces. her home, with just that modest injection of human connection, is now one that rings of laughter, playful antics, new friends and romance.
you really can’t take away anything from anyone who doesn’t want to give it.
ah ma with ah orh gia
heng heng & mi mi the dog
heng heng the self-appointed protector of the weak and the small
ah orh was found tied with 4 other cats to ah ma's gate last month. it hurt her but ah ma released them downstairs. clever ah orh would not budge and becomes one of the family
cheeky little ah orh gia
ah ma's favourites - mi mi the cat & ni ni
tua tau in retirement
this is the kind of simplicity and pride that ah ma’s own children, closer to our generation, cannot embrace and shrink away from. maybe in the name of progress, maybe of conformity but mostly of this insane crippling quality called ‘face’.
but ah ma soldiers on. and she is laughing in our powdered faces. her home, with just that modest injection of human connection, is now one that rings of laughter, playful antics, new friends and romance.
you really can’t take away anything from anyone who doesn’t want to give it.
ah ma with ah orh gia
heng heng & mi mi the dog
heng heng the self-appointed protector of the weak and the small
ah orh was found tied with 4 other cats to ah ma's gate last month. it hurt her but ah ma released them downstairs. clever ah orh would not budge and becomes one of the family
cheeky little ah orh gia
ah ma's favourites - mi mi the cat & ni ni
tua tau in retirement
Friday, January 23, 2009
animal family retirement plan
it’s pretty clear we will not reach solid ground in a while. the only certainty, in fact, is that we will be hit and we will lose – something – in this global financial meltdown. if we are lucky, it will be nothing more than our meticulously charted projection of a retirement with x dollars for a elderly-friendly flat, a tv, a fridge and a cat. but increasingly, it does look like we will lose a lot more than that.
if you have just tuned in, you are watching Tooty's self-help guide to navigating your uncertain future. lucky you. things are looking up already.
paramount rule number one in saving your future – save your money. don’t listen to the fools who are asking us to spend our way out of this rut. they put us there in the first place.
rule two and it cannot be said enough – don’t spend more than you earn. if you have broken rule two, don’t fret. we will let you know about our next flea market.
rule three – recycle. huh, you say? what’s that got to do with anything? when we are doddering on a walking cane, abandoned by our children, can’t afford healthcare, we don’t want to worry about the weather too. trust me.
rule four – if you lose money, let it go.
rule five – let go of your parents’ and politicians’ limiting definition of what a good life is. prosperous, comfortable, secure, enviable. with smug words and false sympathy, they shamed their peers with less and they made them hungry. and we are still doing it. stop.
rule six – if you lose your job, try and try again. and aren’t you glad you supported rule number five?
rule seven – plug in. don’t be left behind by technology. all the more, we need to connect to, learn from and find support in more people than it is physically possible to meet. let's make a date to play online mousehunt in about thirty years.
there you have it, the animal family retirement plan. thank you for watching.
if you have just tuned in, you are watching Tooty's self-help guide to navigating your uncertain future. lucky you. things are looking up already.
paramount rule number one in saving your future – save your money. don’t listen to the fools who are asking us to spend our way out of this rut. they put us there in the first place.
rule two and it cannot be said enough – don’t spend more than you earn. if you have broken rule two, don’t fret. we will let you know about our next flea market.
rule three – recycle. huh, you say? what’s that got to do with anything? when we are doddering on a walking cane, abandoned by our children, can’t afford healthcare, we don’t want to worry about the weather too. trust me.
rule four – if you lose money, let it go.
rule five – let go of your parents’ and politicians’ limiting definition of what a good life is. prosperous, comfortable, secure, enviable. with smug words and false sympathy, they shamed their peers with less and they made them hungry. and we are still doing it. stop.
rule six – if you lose your job, try and try again. and aren’t you glad you supported rule number five?
rule seven – plug in. don’t be left behind by technology. all the more, we need to connect to, learn from and find support in more people than it is physically possible to meet. let's make a date to play online mousehunt in about thirty years.
there you have it, the animal family retirement plan. thank you for watching.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Flea Mania, GN'R for the love of cats
See you tomorrow on 17th Jan Saturday at Sculpture Square for Flea Mania, a flea market bazaar for the benefit of stray cats in Singapore. It takes place from 10am to 5pm. Sculpture Square is on Middle Road, beside Fortune Centre. Besides having many things to buy, there will also be kittens for adoption. Come come!
*
with that out of the way, allow me to indulge…
you know what makes this cat purr like a freight train, fly like an aeroplane? a sprawling wilderness of blackboard scratching affliction that is a guns n’ roses song.
for sure, these tunes aren’t pretty. they don’t end quite soon enough. and not without some hard swallowing. instead, they travel on a riotous musical trajectory not unlike the wheels of a human mind wandering through its cerebral crevices towards a concluding thought. and it still wouldn’t be close to the last word on the subject.
most songs are a pronouncement of the artists’ state of mind - simplified, contained and ultimately resolved. presented as a final proclamation of happiness, sorrow, remorse or whatever. a gn’r song injects you right in there with the artist, swimming, drowning, grasping for clarity, suffering for, and relishing every revelation and indecision.
there is something to be said about the unmade-up mind which is often not more appreciated. they are minds still engaged. for those whose worldview is well and truly set, those conversations are essentially dead and dried up. and where does that leave us?
recently, the woman encountered a clash of cultures between a cat foster and potential adopter. the foster is dead set against the potential adopter because she has heard too many stories. it’s not right she admits, but would you gamble away the life of a kitten on ideals about tolerance and harmony?
the woman looks at the kitten in her hands and she wavers. ultimately, she gave the kitten to the adopter.
while those of us who are more informed and involved have reached certain conclusions about how best a cat should be cared for and protected, we still shouldn't take them as the last final words on the subject.
the work of a cat welfare volunteer is to engage and to help all kinds of people along to new understanding and new revelations. if we are set and hardened as bricks, what we might do is save that one kitten. how about the many that we cannot reach with just one hand on the left and one on the right?
*
white grey and black curly well and fully recovered!
with that out of the way, allow me to indulge…
you know what makes this cat purr like a freight train, fly like an aeroplane? a sprawling wilderness of blackboard scratching affliction that is a guns n’ roses song.
for sure, these tunes aren’t pretty. they don’t end quite soon enough. and not without some hard swallowing. instead, they travel on a riotous musical trajectory not unlike the wheels of a human mind wandering through its cerebral crevices towards a concluding thought. and it still wouldn’t be close to the last word on the subject.
most songs are a pronouncement of the artists’ state of mind - simplified, contained and ultimately resolved. presented as a final proclamation of happiness, sorrow, remorse or whatever. a gn’r song injects you right in there with the artist, swimming, drowning, grasping for clarity, suffering for, and relishing every revelation and indecision.
there is something to be said about the unmade-up mind which is often not more appreciated. they are minds still engaged. for those whose worldview is well and truly set, those conversations are essentially dead and dried up. and where does that leave us?
recently, the woman encountered a clash of cultures between a cat foster and potential adopter. the foster is dead set against the potential adopter because she has heard too many stories. it’s not right she admits, but would you gamble away the life of a kitten on ideals about tolerance and harmony?
the woman looks at the kitten in her hands and she wavers. ultimately, she gave the kitten to the adopter.
while those of us who are more informed and involved have reached certain conclusions about how best a cat should be cared for and protected, we still shouldn't take them as the last final words on the subject.
the work of a cat welfare volunteer is to engage and to help all kinds of people along to new understanding and new revelations. if we are set and hardened as bricks, what we might do is save that one kitten. how about the many that we cannot reach with just one hand on the left and one on the right?
white grey and black curly well and fully recovered!
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
homeless by will
after visiting ah ma’s place on saturday, the woman was brought along to visit a homeless mother and son who lives on the streets with their dog and a lame bird. their plight is unfortunate but up to a point, the woman became strangely unmoved.
two years ago when they owned a flat, the thirty year old son and his mother adopted a stray dog with a history of abuse. the story of the recovery of the dog under their care is a remarkable one.
then for reasons unknown, they sold their flat. to keep their dog who has a deep mistrust of people, they rented an apartment to themselves for a hefty $1300 per month. that depleted their savings completely and they were not yet eligible for the government rental flats.
options were given by the MP and by friends and relatives for shelter but none allowed the dog to stay with them. they opted for the streets.
our hearts go out to them who rather face the streets than to abandon their dog in a crisis. but just as unsettling as the deplorable lack of options for animal caregivers, especially poor animal caregivers, is their own stubborn, imprudent and reliant attitudes.
besides looking out for a cheap pet-friendly place for them to stay, Jaime found a sponsor willing to put the dog up at a farm. she is also scouring for job opportunities for the son who is currently unemployed.
but the mother did not want to leave the dog. when a job opening came up, the son said his mother could not handle being on the street on her own. by the way, they had nothing to eat, could Jaime come bring them some food?
this is classic circular defeatist reasoning. because you aren’t working you are living on the street. and because you are living on the street, you can’t work. to his credit, the son did make it to his first day at work and we hope he will keep it.
as for the dog, living on the run from residents, from authorities and other roving homeless people with existing claims on park benches and pavilions is no way to overcome his deep-seated emotional problems. being on a farm with experienced animal caregivers with regular visits from his owners may in fact save his sanity, if only the mother and son can see past their overwhelming need to keep it by their side.
quite frankly for a thirty year old man and his fifty year old mother, it is far too early to let go of their self-sufficiency, their dignity and their good sense. they are not a doddering 70 year old who can't be called upon to do much for herself.
but if they were a little wiser, they would not be in the predicament they are in now. what do you do?
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
adoptions & flea mania
our four kittens have found new homes. one extraordinary family even took in the two whose eyes are a mess and will keep them even if they never fully recover. that is the kind of news that restores our faith in Christmas.
more festive news: FleaMania is organising a pre-CNY flea market where stall rental proceeds will go towards Pawpledge's stray cat sterilisation and care fund. do drop by if you are free to chat, to chill and to rummage!
FLEA MANIA
Saturday, 17 January 2009 10am - 5pm
Sculpture Square, 155 Middle Road (Outside My Secret Garden)
Cat Welfare Society, House Rabbit Society of Singapore and the NTU Cat Cafe will also be joining Pawpledge there. so will our woman and she is bringing 2 kittens from ah ma's place along. besides clean comfy new homes, they need all the hugs and kisses they can get!
come visit them on the 17th!
more festive news: FleaMania is organising a pre-CNY flea market where stall rental proceeds will go towards Pawpledge's stray cat sterilisation and care fund. do drop by if you are free to chat, to chill and to rummage!
FLEA MANIA
Saturday, 17 January 2009 10am - 5pm
Sculpture Square, 155 Middle Road (Outside My Secret Garden)
Cat Welfare Society, House Rabbit Society of Singapore and the NTU Cat Cafe will also be joining Pawpledge there. so will our woman and she is bringing 2 kittens from ah ma's place along. besides clean comfy new homes, they need all the hugs and kisses they can get!
come visit them on the 17th!
Friday, December 19, 2008
glut and brutality
thanks ocha, for the link to internet users angry about cats on menu.
my heart sinks when i see my feline brothers and sisters caged like this to be bought, sold, weighed and finally eaten. then i remember our friends in poultry, cattle and other farms who suffer the same fate and i am not sure i have the right to complain.
but i say this for all of us who are lesser than the mighty men. i can understand if a starving person had to catch us to fill his family’s stomach. i can even understand if someone had no other livelihood but to farm us. because they are careful with what they have and they are grateful for what they are given.
for the rest of you, why are you so hungry? so hungry you have exchanged your natural abhorrence to glut and brutality that is shark’s fin soup, whale meat, foie gras, veal, fur coats and on and on, and for what? for that bloated esteem of living what is a good life. that is what it is. i hope you are happy.
my heart sinks when i see my feline brothers and sisters caged like this to be bought, sold, weighed and finally eaten. then i remember our friends in poultry, cattle and other farms who suffer the same fate and i am not sure i have the right to complain.
but i say this for all of us who are lesser than the mighty men. i can understand if a starving person had to catch us to fill his family’s stomach. i can even understand if someone had no other livelihood but to farm us. because they are careful with what they have and they are grateful for what they are given.
for the rest of you, why are you so hungry? so hungry you have exchanged your natural abhorrence to glut and brutality that is shark’s fin soup, whale meat, foie gras, veal, fur coats and on and on, and for what? for that bloated esteem of living what is a good life. that is what it is. i hope you are happy.
slow recovery
the 2 white ones are out of danger but white grey and black curly are still battling for their sight. even with the reduced swelling, what we can see of the eye is cloudy... :(
Sunday, December 14, 2008
geriatric robin hood
these months the woman spent at the old hoarder lady’s has been akin to falling down a rabbit hole into another world. just when she thought she had ah ma’s world all figured out, she throws her another surprise or two .
chatting with the ah ma while cleaning, jaime translated for the woman that she was happy that after many years of silence, her youngest son showed up and gave her pocket money. things did seem to be looking up. her other son, an ex-convict, has also been consistently working and close to getting his taxi license with jaime and janet’s help and encouragement.
then ah ma asked for money again. when they had lunch with her at her favourite kopitiam, they figured out why she is always short when she consistently receives money from several sources: her daughter, jaime and janet and some kind people in the neighbourhood.
they saw ah ma give a substantial sum of money on the side to the coffee shop cleaner, a mildly autistic middle-aged man who is also her errand boy when she needs help with the heavy lifting. the poor guy was always getting an earful from the volunteers because he is the one who gives ah ma her constant supply of chicken heads for the cats!
as it is, he is the sole provider for his elderly mother and a severely incapacitated sister. the kopitiam stall owners help him out by giving him work and food and a little extra collection from each stall every month. then last week, a con-woman came along and cleaned him out with her cheap promises.
so ah ma gave him an ear lashing and what money she had. they already knew she was her own one-woman soup kitchen in the neighbourhood. a motley bunch of people would crawl out of the woodwork everyday to take their meals with her at the kopitiam and she would pay. the volunteers thought she was probably lonely and needed the company but they could not have been more wrong. the instinct that compels her to take in all those sad animals is exactly the same as what compels her to spread what little she has around.
and she is smart about it. ah ma has no qualms taking, begging and even defrauding the haves just so she can give to the have-nots, like some kind of geriatric robin hood. she is also the kopitiam mafia, so luck to the con-woman if she shows up again!
___________________________
in another twist of this wonderland tale, someone left ah ma four kittens this week and they all suffer severe conjunctivitis. the woman has convinced herself and all of us that we have NO CHOICE but to offer them the hospitability of our utility room so here they are depriving us of our strategic neighbourhood look-out point, our vital evil plan headquarters above the wardrobe and sleep.
two have found adopters and two will go on the adoption boards as soon as they are pretty again.
get well soon kiddos and we will be glad to see you out of here!
chatting with the ah ma while cleaning, jaime translated for the woman that she was happy that after many years of silence, her youngest son showed up and gave her pocket money. things did seem to be looking up. her other son, an ex-convict, has also been consistently working and close to getting his taxi license with jaime and janet’s help and encouragement.
then ah ma asked for money again. when they had lunch with her at her favourite kopitiam, they figured out why she is always short when she consistently receives money from several sources: her daughter, jaime and janet and some kind people in the neighbourhood.
they saw ah ma give a substantial sum of money on the side to the coffee shop cleaner, a mildly autistic middle-aged man who is also her errand boy when she needs help with the heavy lifting. the poor guy was always getting an earful from the volunteers because he is the one who gives ah ma her constant supply of chicken heads for the cats!
as it is, he is the sole provider for his elderly mother and a severely incapacitated sister. the kopitiam stall owners help him out by giving him work and food and a little extra collection from each stall every month. then last week, a con-woman came along and cleaned him out with her cheap promises.
so ah ma gave him an ear lashing and what money she had. they already knew she was her own one-woman soup kitchen in the neighbourhood. a motley bunch of people would crawl out of the woodwork everyday to take their meals with her at the kopitiam and she would pay. the volunteers thought she was probably lonely and needed the company but they could not have been more wrong. the instinct that compels her to take in all those sad animals is exactly the same as what compels her to spread what little she has around.
and she is smart about it. ah ma has no qualms taking, begging and even defrauding the haves just so she can give to the have-nots, like some kind of geriatric robin hood. she is also the kopitiam mafia, so luck to the con-woman if she shows up again!
in another twist of this wonderland tale, someone left ah ma four kittens this week and they all suffer severe conjunctivitis. the woman has convinced herself and all of us that we have NO CHOICE but to offer them the hospitability of our utility room so here they are depriving us of our strategic neighbourhood look-out point, our vital evil plan headquarters above the wardrobe and sleep.
two have found adopters and two will go on the adoption boards as soon as they are pretty again.
get well soon kiddos and we will be glad to see you out of here!
Thursday, December 04, 2008
harbourfront kitty savior
on the way home yesterday, the woman came across a lady carrying a 1-plus-month kitty in her beaded sweater at the harbourfront bus terminal next to the seah im food centre. she found it wandering around and was taking it home! that put a smile on the woman's face.
speaking with a japanese or korean accent, the lady said that she already has 2 cats at home. so still ardent, still unhesitating. she is the woman post-fruitcake and pre-everyone else. good luck, pretty lady!
the woman did see an unsterilised cat there and wonders if anyone is looking after this area.
speaking with a japanese or korean accent, the lady said that she already has 2 cats at home. so still ardent, still unhesitating. she is the woman post-fruitcake and pre-everyone else. good luck, pretty lady!
the woman did see an unsterilised cat there and wonders if anyone is looking after this area.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
the cat, the elephant and the shopper/hero
‘tis the season to be jolly…
it’s that time of the year again to overspend, overeat and if we remember, say a word of thanks to the Lord for what he’d done for us on the holiest of days. meow.
incidentally, the woman just attended a screening at The Other Side of “What Would Jesus Buy?”. goofy, hilarious, crass, inspiring and moving all at once, it chronicles the adventures of a colourful performance activist group who takes christmas shoppers by surprise in the mega malls across the u.s. of a with their message to STOP SHOPPING and start giving. an insanely noble human effort, which after three long years, may just have found traction if only because of the financial collapse.
so let us all act on what we know: mindless spending, bad. hoarding cash, also bad. so how about spending where it counts?
several doors down from The Other Side on rowell road is Post-Museum, an independent arts venue that is hosting “Shopper/Hero”, a bazaar cum exhibition for the charming, beautiful things created and promoted by NGOs and other cause-related organisations in Singapore that channels your hard-earned dollars where they are needed: widowed mothers, aids sufferers and landmine victims in cambodia, transient workers in singapore, antarctic whale defense, to name a few.
my christmas wishlist includes one of these! please, pretty please?
also racing for a piece of the collective consciousness is the very accomplished conservation-themed children’s book “The Elephant and The Tree” by Jin Pyn Lee. this illustrated story is a dark one because it is a real one. it speaks a truth that goes right to the gut of an adult as it does the imagination of a child and invites the kind of conversation a parent and child should have this christmas. to see beauty in reality and reality in beauty. for the thinking child, happily ever after is for them to pen by way of how they think and what they do after reading this story.
for the inspired, come up close with the author and elephant conservationists at the Botanic Garden’s Botany Centre on 13 dec from 10:30 to 16:30. “The Secret Affair of the Asian Elephant” promises to be a day of fun and learning with talks, free film screenings and photo exhibition.
finally, not forgetting our kinsmen are kucingcoast and pawpledge whose calendars and racers raise money for stray kitties. the animal family is on a spreeeeee…
so before you stock that tree this Christmas, i leave you with the catchy refrains of Rev Billy’s Church of Stop Shopping gospel choir:
“pack the malls with folks with money,
‘tis the season to be dummies…”
you figure the rest. merry christmas!
it’s that time of the year again to overspend, overeat and if we remember, say a word of thanks to the Lord for what he’d done for us on the holiest of days. meow.
incidentally, the woman just attended a screening at The Other Side of “What Would Jesus Buy?”. goofy, hilarious, crass, inspiring and moving all at once, it chronicles the adventures of a colourful performance activist group who takes christmas shoppers by surprise in the mega malls across the u.s. of a with their message to STOP SHOPPING and start giving. an insanely noble human effort, which after three long years, may just have found traction if only because of the financial collapse.
so let us all act on what we know: mindless spending, bad. hoarding cash, also bad. so how about spending where it counts?
several doors down from The Other Side on rowell road is Post-Museum, an independent arts venue that is hosting “Shopper/Hero”, a bazaar cum exhibition for the charming, beautiful things created and promoted by NGOs and other cause-related organisations in Singapore that channels your hard-earned dollars where they are needed: widowed mothers, aids sufferers and landmine victims in cambodia, transient workers in singapore, antarctic whale defense, to name a few.
my christmas wishlist includes one of these! please, pretty please?
also racing for a piece of the collective consciousness is the very accomplished conservation-themed children’s book “The Elephant and The Tree” by Jin Pyn Lee. this illustrated story is a dark one because it is a real one. it speaks a truth that goes right to the gut of an adult as it does the imagination of a child and invites the kind of conversation a parent and child should have this christmas. to see beauty in reality and reality in beauty. for the thinking child, happily ever after is for them to pen by way of how they think and what they do after reading this story.
for the inspired, come up close with the author and elephant conservationists at the Botanic Garden’s Botany Centre on 13 dec from 10:30 to 16:30. “The Secret Affair of the Asian Elephant” promises to be a day of fun and learning with talks, free film screenings and photo exhibition.
finally, not forgetting our kinsmen are kucingcoast and pawpledge whose calendars and racers raise money for stray kitties. the animal family is on a spreeeeee…
so before you stock that tree this Christmas, i leave you with the catchy refrains of Rev Billy’s Church of Stop Shopping gospel choir:
“pack the malls with folks with money,
‘tis the season to be dummies…”
you figure the rest. merry christmas!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
animal family hierarchy II
2 years ago, i spoke about the animal family hierarchy in which i was the de facto leader to Rosie’s titled queen-ship in the family. about this, i have a sad tale of caution to all those of you out there who still hold on to the notion that you can aim to please everyone and still remain a cat of influence in a pecking order.
this is the wild west, baby. you may lay your whiskers on down cushions, manicure your spikes on ikea shelving boards and take your bread on a buffet line of vet-approved kibbles. don’t let such entrapments fool you for a second that primal catty nature does not reign like a God-given right in the big-eyed fur ball dozing next to you.
there are now 2 factions in the animal family. not conspicuous to the unobserving human eye but a game of life and death for a cat that is slowly falling out of favour with the queen bee and a tom that spots a certain ill-placed moustache.
the furr-her
yep, Chaplin the kitler is unleashing his mojo (or what’s left of it) on a predominantly matriarchal household up to now. the queen is not relinquishing her regal position just yet but there is definitely a truce treaty being negotiated between staring challenges, snarls, minor skirmishes and chalking of a school yard line down the middle of the animal family. and then unexpectedly, the adversaries give each other a tongue bath like Cleopatra and Julius Caesar.
this sophisticated rivalry between our queen and furr-her brings civilisation to animal family. bar room scuffles and brawls are replaced by parliamentary cunning, back-scratching and treachery as the new rules of engagement.
the black and white bishops are ordained. shrewdly-wired Blackie slides into Chaplin’s quarter while Suede makes good her life-long loyalty to the queen. it is Blackie that makes a direct line to everyone else that softens the clumsy hard edge of her bratty napoleonic furr-her. she is his perfect ally against the Rosie-Suede pairing that is formidably in size and chilly air of superiority.
the black bishop
Calico is the knight-ingale of grace, honour and a higher calling that takes no sides in a war she considers foolish and juvenile. she is the tragic hero that defends and licks wounded egos of fallen warriors as she mulls over their fallen nature.
the knight defends the white bishop
Papa and Fruity stands apart as towers. they are good alliances but they give none and they get none.
the tower
so finally, that leaves Tuxedo, Smally and me to be tossed around by the winds of change. Tuxedo and Smally are hapless but there is really no good excuse for a cat of ideals like me, however modest. ultimately, i was the bishop without the cunning and the knight without the principle that left me out cold with the rest of the peasantry.
the hapless pawn
but I am learning the diplomacy of making peace and keeping it. and soon, they will have to craft a new piece for this animal family chess board – a 12th century Conservator of the Peace to my antiquated counterparts-at-arms.
this is the wild west, baby. you may lay your whiskers on down cushions, manicure your spikes on ikea shelving boards and take your bread on a buffet line of vet-approved kibbles. don’t let such entrapments fool you for a second that primal catty nature does not reign like a God-given right in the big-eyed fur ball dozing next to you.
there are now 2 factions in the animal family. not conspicuous to the unobserving human eye but a game of life and death for a cat that is slowly falling out of favour with the queen bee and a tom that spots a certain ill-placed moustache.
yep, Chaplin the kitler is unleashing his mojo (or what’s left of it) on a predominantly matriarchal household up to now. the queen is not relinquishing her regal position just yet but there is definitely a truce treaty being negotiated between staring challenges, snarls, minor skirmishes and chalking of a school yard line down the middle of the animal family. and then unexpectedly, the adversaries give each other a tongue bath like Cleopatra and Julius Caesar.
this sophisticated rivalry between our queen and furr-her brings civilisation to animal family. bar room scuffles and brawls are replaced by parliamentary cunning, back-scratching and treachery as the new rules of engagement.
the black and white bishops are ordained. shrewdly-wired Blackie slides into Chaplin’s quarter while Suede makes good her life-long loyalty to the queen. it is Blackie that makes a direct line to everyone else that softens the clumsy hard edge of her bratty napoleonic furr-her. she is his perfect ally against the Rosie-Suede pairing that is formidably in size and chilly air of superiority.
Calico is the knight-ingale of grace, honour and a higher calling that takes no sides in a war she considers foolish and juvenile. she is the tragic hero that defends and licks wounded egos of fallen warriors as she mulls over their fallen nature.
Papa and Fruity stands apart as towers. they are good alliances but they give none and they get none.
so finally, that leaves Tuxedo, Smally and me to be tossed around by the winds of change. Tuxedo and Smally are hapless but there is really no good excuse for a cat of ideals like me, however modest. ultimately, i was the bishop without the cunning and the knight without the principle that left me out cold with the rest of the peasantry.
but I am learning the diplomacy of making peace and keeping it. and soon, they will have to craft a new piece for this animal family chess board – a 12th century Conservator of the Peace to my antiquated counterparts-at-arms.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
bak bak and leafty under a tree
sounds like a title for a children's book. appropriate because for these two special friends, their story lives on. somewhere.
yes, Bak Bak has passed on and has since joined Leafty under the shade of a tree.
since his passing, our thoughts and feelings in the family waver from heartache at one moment and relief in another. we can’t believe he is gone but at the same time, it can be nothing but a timely flight from a body that refused to function a long time ago.
also, it leaves us not any more convicted for or against euthanasia. Bak Bak was a special case for whom the virus attacked the nerves such that he lost feeling in his leg and body. he continued to be same old Bak Bak from the waist up, wanting to be stroked, to be cuddled, to be loved.
the vet recommended that we put him down once he stopped eating but we couldn’t do it. even as he wasted away, he was still same old Bak Bak from the waist up. and then he drifted off into a coma and we thought it would be right to let him just pass away in his own time.
but it dragged. on and on for days as his body shrunk more and more. and doubt began to seep in. is he in pain? is he in a nightmarish septic delirium? is he at peace? who really knows?
on the last day, he woke up and he meowed for us. that was a shock. was he crying in pain? or was he trying for the last time to be same old Bak Bak, wanting to be stroked, to be cuddled, to be loved? but it dawned on us, most of all, he wanted to live.
he drifted back into a coma and was finally taken. we are at peace. he fought his fight in exactly the time it takes to say goodbye. as I write this, the tears are streaming but they are not sad tears. because we can smile at the legend he leaves behind. the same legend that precedes him where he is going.
but what kind of decision would we make for the next cat? we don’t know. the question of dying cannot be that easily solved. and in some odd way, we take comfort in that.
yes, Bak Bak has passed on and has since joined Leafty under the shade of a tree.
since his passing, our thoughts and feelings in the family waver from heartache at one moment and relief in another. we can’t believe he is gone but at the same time, it can be nothing but a timely flight from a body that refused to function a long time ago.
also, it leaves us not any more convicted for or against euthanasia. Bak Bak was a special case for whom the virus attacked the nerves such that he lost feeling in his leg and body. he continued to be same old Bak Bak from the waist up, wanting to be stroked, to be cuddled, to be loved.
the vet recommended that we put him down once he stopped eating but we couldn’t do it. even as he wasted away, he was still same old Bak Bak from the waist up. and then he drifted off into a coma and we thought it would be right to let him just pass away in his own time.
but it dragged. on and on for days as his body shrunk more and more. and doubt began to seep in. is he in pain? is he in a nightmarish septic delirium? is he at peace? who really knows?
on the last day, he woke up and he meowed for us. that was a shock. was he crying in pain? or was he trying for the last time to be same old Bak Bak, wanting to be stroked, to be cuddled, to be loved? but it dawned on us, most of all, he wanted to live.
he drifted back into a coma and was finally taken. we are at peace. he fought his fight in exactly the time it takes to say goodbye. as I write this, the tears are streaming but they are not sad tears. because we can smile at the legend he leaves behind. the same legend that precedes him where he is going.
but what kind of decision would we make for the next cat? we don’t know. the question of dying cannot be that easily solved. and in some odd way, we take comfort in that.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
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