HPB Voices Reloaded
March - April 2008
HPBians show off their pets...
Go to: Chuang Siok Hwee | Dr Tan Wang Theng| Siti Zaidah
SSN Yong Poh Nyook | Veronica Tay |
Guten Tag everybody! That's german for HELLO and Germany is my homeland. I'm a Boxer and my name is Alfa. I have an elder brother who is also from Germany, he's a German Shepherd and his name is Romeo. My younger brother, Sabby, a Doberman, also concidentally, originated from Germany.
I used to be a very playful and cheerful dog who is the clown of the family, always making everyone laugh at my silly actions and cute expressions. However, after the addition of a new puppy into the family, I'm no longer the youngest dog and had to take up the responsibility of being a mature good example to my Doberman little brother. Even though I may be a little jealous of the attention Sabby gets nowadays, I enjoy the company of my new brother and we have a lot of fun playing and having friendly fights with each other. My older brother, Romeo the German Shepherd, is a very serious and stern dog who keeps an eye on us and makes sure that we all get along well. We, the dog version of The Three Musketeers are the invincible trio whose duties are to keep the Low family safe and sound in their beautiful home and to protect them from all the bad people!
Hi hi. My name is Snowy...but they also call me Snow Snow, Baby, Muffin, Precious. So confusing! My particulars are as follows:
Breed: Maltese
Loves: Snuggling up against Daddy's tummy. Looking intently at Mummy with my innocent round eyes - she'll always give my extra meat and cheese cookies when I do that, hehehe.
Hates: Bathing! I'll start to shiver ++ once I'm placed in the bathtub, just to see if I can escape. Not very successful so far though, sigh...
Hello there. I'm Yogi, a 5 year old Japanese Spitz. I have a love-hate relationship with my elder brother, Snowy, the Maltese. He's always seeking affection, and trying to act cute... so yucky! But when he's not around to play with me, I'll feel so lonely and will miss him. In my spare time (i.e. when not eating, sleeping, or fighting with Snowy), I enjoy going for long jogs. Because all the pretty girls (and Aunties) will always go "such a handsome boy!" as I pass by. And besides, Snowy can't come along for long jogs cos’ his legs are too short, hahaha!
Introducing my most beloved pet cat, Putih! She is 8 years old now and has been with my family since she came to us as a kitten. We named her ‘Putih’ as she is mostly white except for her ears. My son loves playing with Putih. She is the love of our family. Putih loves Friskies biscuits only. Having Putih around has been so much fun and we love being with her.
This is my favourite love bird I call ‘Reddy’ because of his striking red forehead. He loves to eat raw corn and is much tamed. He likes to greet me by chirping whenever he senses my presence.
Feeding time at night and out of sight of cat haters– left-over food and paper are cleared after feeding.
You may have heard of ‘Community cats.’ They are cats being cared for by cat-feeders. Yes! They have a home. They live in our environment.
In my condominium estate we have a group of 8 community cats cared for and managed by my friend and ex-neighbour. They are all eartipped—the tip of their ear is clipped while the cat is under anesthesia—so the cat can easily be identified as being part of a managed colony.
In 2003, I noticed a man and woman feeding a colony of over 20 cats in the bin area in my condominium estate. She and her brother were residents of our estate. I talked her and managed to convince her that we should trap, neuter, return and manage (TNRM) the cats.
Slowly, over a period of 6 months, with the loan of a trap cage, she & I managed to sterilised over 90% of her cats both males and females. With the help of contacts and networking we managed to get cheaper rates for sterilising the cats. We paid for the sterilisation ourselves.
Soon, she was able to manage the population of cats and complaints were less as there were no more catawauling of cats fighting and mating at night.
Over the period of 4 years, she re-housed some of her cats in a cattery. Now, she is just managing 8 cats. The population also decreased with natural attrition, through death from road accidents and disease. My friend moved away 2 years ago and she still comes back to feed the cats daily. I assist her whenever I can. Sometimes, she has a dinner to attend, a late office meeting or she is away on holiday. I take over during the days she can’t come to feed them.
Such is the dedication to her community cats – she always says, “If I don’t take care of them, who will?”
If you interested to start or join a TNRM programme in your estate, email info@catwelfare.org
* Feeding cats is not an offence, not clearing the unfinished food is. You may be fined for littering.