Hoarding

This is a really interesting article on hoarding - and apparently they've now made a tv show about it!

What do cats do all day?

This was interesting - and I wonder why it is that most of the time when we look at cats, they're sleeping then? It would be interesting if it was done with even more cats.

Trees disallowed

Aminah - let me have your address by email and I'll send you the book :)

In other news, despite the fact that it seems some residents took it upon themselves to beautify their community by planting trees, these trees will be torn down because they were not authorised. The article doesn't mention anything about the trees causing a problem - just that they were not planted in the proper place and with the authority of the Resident's committee. So much for community bonding.

Pet shops to be certified

Thanks to yskat for this article on how people running pet shops will soon have to undergo a compulsory training programme. While this is a good step in terms of hopefully at least impressing about pet shop owners what they should do, and how the animals should be treated while under their care, the real issue is that most pet shop owners who sell animals are in it obviously to make a profit. If they're too fussy about whom they sell the animals to, they'd go broke. In addition, why sell animals when there are so many animals that need to be adopted? I don't really see this making any real impact unfortunately.

No Kill

Thanks to Aminah for sending this video. It's very sad - and also upsetting, so you should skip it if you don't think it's for you.

It brought to mind the larger issue for me of shelters and No-Kill. Obviously, the situation is different in different parts of the world, but then I saw this on the No Kill Advocacy website - apparently, shelter. Apparently shelter directors in Australia, New Zealand and the US are now in a 'competition' to see who can first reach No-Kill status (Scroll down on this page to "The Race is On"). It leads me to wonder why in Singapore, a country we pride as being First in everything, that the authorities are not supportive of a No-Kill ethos, which is more humane and effective.

Interestingly as well, the No Kill Advocacy Centre is offering Redemption free to No-Kill shelters and rescue groups. I've bought a few copies to give out to people, all of whom found it a really insightful read. Winograd has just come out with another book - Irreconcilable Differences.

Even though this book is also supposed to be about American shelters, I suspect it will be much like Redemption, with lessons that I think are applicable to everyone.

I'm going to order a copy for myself - and because I thought Redemption was such a fantastic read, I'm going to order an extra copy of Irreconcilable Differences for one of you. If you'd like a chance to get your hands on a copy, please post a comment by 30th November midnight Singapore time, letting me know why you'd like to have it. The most creative/insightful/interesting comment 'wins' :) Don't add your email or mailing address on the blog - I'll ask you for it later if I'm mailing you the book. By the way, I'm not being sponsored in any way - and I haven't read Irreconcilable Differences yet either so don't ask me if it's good yet!

Cats for rat patrol

Thanks to Chinky for sending this article. I like that it explained that rats tend to stay away more because of the smell, not always because cats are actively catching and killing them. I've found that when we moved into a rental home, that was certainly true.

Oreo

Some of you may have read of the case of Oreo who was thrown off a building last year. He was then sent to the ASPCA - and the ASPCA said they found that he was unpredictable and aggressive. Oreo was then killed on Friday. I can understand that he might not have been able to be adopted out - but it's strange that when there were other supposedly reputable shelters with experience with traumatised/aggressive dogs, that Oreo wasn't given to them for adoption. Here's a good opinion piece by Nathan Winograd.