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  Straits Times 2 Feb 07
Writers' strong views on cat/dog ban in HDB flats worrying
Letter from Soo Kwok Heng Victoria, Australia

Today Online 31 Jan 07
Time to cull those cat myths
Let's first get the facts straight before we deal with strays
Letter from Dawn Kua Director of Operations, Cat Welfare Society

Straits Times Forum 31 Jan 07
HDB should allow keeping of cats in flats and come up with strict Dos and Dont's
Letter from Liew Yi Xui (Ms)

Straits Times Forum Forum 31 Jan 07
It's not only the cats - dogs too must be banned
Letter from Heng Cho Choon

Straits Times Forum 31 Jan 07
Don't be swayed by biased arguments, HDB
Letter from Dr Tan Chek Wee

Straits Times Forum 31 Jan 07
Points made for cat banning in flats misleading
Letter from Anthony Lee Mui Yu

Today Online 30 Jan 07
True, we can do with fewer cats ... through sterilisation
Letter from Dr Tan Chek Wee

Today Online 29 Jan 07
Do cats belong in our HDB estates?

Straits Times 25 Jan 07
HDB should replace ban with rules to enforce responsible ownership of cats
Letter from Gina Ho Yuen Sing (Mdm)

Straits Times 25 Jan 07
Why HDB should ban cat and dog ownership in flats
Letter from Peter Kuan Kok Oon

Straits Times 23 Jan 07
SPCA backs bid to let cats live in HDB flats
Letter from Deirdre Moss (Ms) Executive Officer SPCA

Straits Times 23 Jan 07
Clean and quiet, cats make perfect indoor pets
Letter from Khoo Hwee Boon (Ms)

Straits Times 22 Jan 07
Ruling on cats in flats not fair to responsible owners
Letter from Jereme Ooi Wooi Keat

Straits Times 19 Jan 07
HDB's anti-cat policy is antiquated
Letter from David Tan Hee Tuck, Hong Kong

Straits Times Forum 17 Jan 07
Don't ban cats in flats, HDB
Letter from Elaine Neo Yan Ling (Miss)

MY FRIEND who lives in a terrace house has just adopted a cat. It makes me envy him that his cat is 'legal' while my poor cat is an 'illegal occupant' as I live in an HDB flat.

My cat has been with me for years, and has yet to cause any nuisance that is enough to drive any neighbours to pound on our doors. I did an online search and to my surprise found these two statuary boards' stand on cats as pets.

A brochure from Agri-food & Veterinary Authority states that 'Cats make good indoor pets' (April 2001). However, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) states: 'Cats are not allowed to be kept in HDB flats as they are nomadic in nature and are difficult to be confined within the flats. Due to the nomadic nature of cats, the nuisances caused by cats such as shedding of fur, defecating/urinating in public areas, noise disturbance etc would affect the environment and neighbourliness in our housing estates. In view of this, HDB has the policy of not allowing cats to be kept in HDB flats.' (Aug 24, 2006)

My cat has no problem in living in my HDB flat for all these years and has never made attempts to run away from home. Thus, I do not understand how 'cats are nomadic in nature and difficult to be confined within the flats'.

I also do wonder, does a cat shed less fur when on a landed property than when it is within an HDB flat? If not, then why is this raised as a justification for banning cats in HDB flats? Since there is no difference in the amount of fur shed, and responsible owners do take time to brush cats as much as they do for dogs to remove loose fur, this should be a non-issue. In any case, the shedding of fur is within the owners' flat anyway.

The frequent barking of dogs is also definitely louder than any meowing of sterilised cats, so why are cats banned and dogs allowed?

As for cats urinating in public areas, I think dogs of irresponsible owners will defecate just as much in public too.

I feel that the HDB's banning of cats is too harsh on responsible cat owners like myself.


Straits Times 19 Jan 07
HDB's anti-cat policy is antiquated
Letter from David Tan Hee Tuck, Hong Kong

I AGREE wholeheartedly with Miss Elaine Neo Yan Ling's comment that cats make good pets in flats ('Don't ban cats in flats, HDB'; ST Online Forum, Jan17).

Over the years, I've written many times to the Housing Board to request that the policy on pets be updated to allow for cats to be kept. But each time the reply is the same: 'Cats are not allowed to be kept in HDB flats as they are nomadic in nature and difficult to keep confined within the flats. Due to the nomadic nature of cats, the nuisances caused by cats, such as the shedding of fur, defecating and urinating in public areas, noise disturbance, and so on, would affect the environment and neighbourliness in our housing estates. In view of this, HDB has a policy of not allowing cats to be kept in HDB flats.'

I have sent the HDB information on new breeds of cats that are suitable for apartment living, and have even disputed some of the dog breeds which have been approved as suitable pets for apartment living, with supported facts from pet review sites.

But each time, it has always been the standard reply from HDB.

HDB's policy on pets is antiquated and should be reviewed and updated based on the latest information regarding dog and cat breeds available now.

The Government is constantly telling Singaporeans that in order to progress, they must constantly review and update themselves according to the latest trends, but somehow I don't see government statutory boards following the same call.

Straits Times Online 22 Jan 07
Ruling on cats in flats not fair to responsible owners
Letter from Jereme Ooi Wooi Keat

I REFER to the letter 'Don't ban cats in flats, HDB' (ST Online Forum, Jan 17).

That HDB is internationally recognised for its successful, quality, public housing is a fact.

However, its unwavering stand on banning its residents from keeping cats as pets is based on the myth that: 'Cats are nomadic in nature and are difficult to confine within the flats. Due to the nomadic nature of cats, the nuisances caused by cats such as the shedding of fur, defecating/urinating in public areas, noise disturbance and so on would affect the environment and neighbourliness in our housing estates.'

It is a fact that in the United States there are approximately 73 million owned cats (as compared with approximately 68 million owned dogs). Three in ten (or 34.7 million) US households own at least one cat, according to the 2001-2002 National Pet Owners Survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

Perhaps decision-makers at HDB should visit the homes of responsible cat-owners and see for themselves that cats which are sterilised and kept strictly indoors are contented, quiet and clean.

Of course, such visits must come with the amnesty that such HDB owners will not prosecuted for keeping cats illegally.

Replacing the ban with a set of regulations to enforce responsible ownership, such as requiring that cats are kept strictly indoors, would be a welcome measure to the town councils as 'free roaming' pets are a major cause of complaints from residents.

This is indeed a win-win situation.

Legalising the ownership of cats would also remove the perpetual fear of responsible cat owners who are at the mercy of unreasonable neighbours.

During the Sars hysteria in 2003, a friend of mine received a notice from HDB to get rid of her cat, as a resident in the opposite block had seen it sitting beside the window grilles and had filed a complaint.

HDB cites its sensitivity to residents in upholding its ban. However, HDB is not being sensitive to the sentiments of residents who wish to keep cats as pets responsibly.

Straits Times 23 Jan 07
SPCA backs bid to let cats live in HDB flats
Letter from Deirdre Moss (Ms) Executive Officer SPCA

I REFER to the ST Online Forum letters 'Don't ban cats in flats, HDB' by Ms Elaine Neo Yan Ling (Jan 17) and 'HDB's anti-cat policy is antiquated' by Mr David Tan Hee Tuck (Jan 19).

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) fully agrees with the writers, that cats should be permitted in Housing Board flats.

Cats make ideal companions in flats, and a reversal in HDB's policy would no doubt not only make many cat lovers happy, but it would also help in alleviating the overpopulation of strays throughout the island.

The SPCA has been appealing to the authorities for a number of years now to permit the keeping of cats in flats, with the proviso that they are sterilised, micro-chipped and kept indoors.

More recently, the SPCA in October, wrote to Dr Fatimah Lateef (MP for Marine Parade GRC) to ask her to raise this issue in Parliament, following correspondence she had received (which she had conveyed to SPCA) from one of her constituents, that HDB should relax its regulations to allow cat lovers the option of keeping cats at home.

The SPCA has also been encouraging its members and regular donors to write to their MPs and to the Minister for National Development (mah_bow_tan@mnd.gov.sg), appealing for HDB to review the current ruling of not permitting cats in flats.

We are hopeful that, with many more voices speaking up like the above writers, more homes can be provided for the countless numbers of unwanted and abandoned cats that live on the streets.

Straits Times 23 Jan 07
Clean and quiet, cats make perfect indoor pets
Letter from Khoo Hwee Boon (Ms)

I REFER to 'Don't ban cats in flats, HDB' by Miss Elaine Neo Yan Ling (ST Online Forum, Jan 17) and 'HDB's anti-cat policy is antiquated' by Mr David Tan Hee Tuck (ST Online Forum, Jan 19).

Like Mr Tan, I have written many times to the Housing Board to request for a review on their current cat policy. Each time, I too, receive the standard template answer that Mr Tan receives.

As the standard of living continues to improve, it is common that households keep pets. And cats do make perfect pets for flats. I am not sure what Mr Tan means by breeds of cats suitable for apartment living, but from my many years of interaction with cats, I know cats (pedigrees and our local drain cats) can be domesticated and kept strictly indoors as opposed to HDB's view that they are 'nomadic and difficult to keep confined within the flats'. They are clean and they are quiet when sterilised.

Cats, in fact, are quieter and cleaner than dogs. They can be trained to do their 'business' in a litter tray. They shed as much as dogs but not more.

So I don't understand how cats can be a nuisance and 'affect the environment and neighbourliness in our housing estates'. Singaporeans are well educated these days.

We make well informed and well intentioned criticisms. So HDB's current stand on the anti-cat policy is not just antiquated but it simply doesn't wash with us.

As long as HDB refuses to acknowledge this, cat lovers will keep cats in their flats illegally. The consequence of this is that irresponsible cat owners will continue not to sterilise their cats, which will caterwaul and procreate. It will also encourage pet abandonment.

If HDB legalised cats in its flats, it could regulate cat ownership via compulsory microchipping and licensing - as with pet dogs. This would help to increase responsible pet ownership and reduce pet abandonment.

Straits Times 25 Jan 07
HDB should replace ban with rules to enforce responsible ownership of cats
Letter from Gina Ho Yuen Sing (Mdm)

I refer to the letter 'Ruling on cats in flats not fair to responsible owners' (ST Online Forum, Jan 22).

I live in a private apartment and I own six sterilised cats. My neighbours say they would not have known that we have cats if not for the fact that we told them. Even visitors who step into our house think we have only one or two cats, not six, because there is no noise or smell to indicate so.

Not only do cats make good indoor pets, but they are also great therapy. Cats keep my bed-ridden husband company. They amuse him with their antics and sometimes snuggle up to him during cold, rainy weather. They helped my elder son overcome depression and brought out the softer side of my 'rough and tough' younger son, helped my husband's caregivers who are foreign maids overcome homesickness and helped me manage stress.

If cats appear to be giving problems, a fair bit of it is due to irresponsible humans - dumping pets or unwanted litter, not sterilising them, irresponsible feeding and allowing pets to wander without supervision.

Who pays the penalty? The cats pay with their lives.

I did not think much about cats a few years ago when I did not own a cat. It was only after I adopted the first one for my husband that I realised they had so much to offer.

One cat I have was a community cat from Jurong East. He could have easily been one of the victims of the serial cat killer in Jurong East.

Should he count himself lucky to be alive and adopted by us? No, we count ourselves lucky to have him; he gives us countless hours of entertainment, lots of love and joy.

I agree with one writer's suggestion that if HDB replaces the ban with a set of regulations to enforce responsible ownership, things will move towards a win-win situation for all.

Straits Times 25 Jan 07
Why HDB should ban cat and dog ownership in flats
Letter from Peter Kuan Kok Oon

I refer to the letter 'Ruling on cats in flats not fair to responsible owners' by Mr Jereme Ooi (Online Forum, Jan 22).

I do not agree with Mr Ooi's opinion. I feel that the HDB is fair and responsible in disallowing the keeping of cats in HDB flats.

Let us take a look at the problems created by dogs being bred in HDB flats to understand better the impact of allowing the keeping of cats in HDB flats.

1. Dirtying public property. Many dog owners are irresponsible and allow their dogs to defecate and urinate everywhere including in the lifts, the void decks, the playground, the pavements and on the grass patch. To allow the keeping of cats will only compound the problem. Furthermore, cat faeces are much smaller than those of the dog, so more people are going to be unwittingly stepping onto it.

2. Noise. Dogs living in HDB flats create a lot of noise, at all times of the day and night. Add cats to it, and the problem will get only worse. Imagine the loud noises created by cats fighting in the corridors.

3. Smell. The keeping of cats in HDB flats will create a strong unpleasant odour. There is a reported case of a doctor advising a pregnant lady to stay indoors, with the windows shut tightly, to keep out the odour she could not tolerate.

4. Disease. A dog bite can cause rabies, while a scratch from a cat can cause bleeding. Furthermore, the urine and faeces of cats can cause health problems.

5. Animal abuse. We have seen many instances of animal abuse in The Straits Times. With cats living in HDB flats, this problem will only get worse.

I strongly urge HDB to maintain the ban on cats in public flats. In addition, I would urge HDB to also ban the keeping of dogs in public flats.

HDB flats are built for humans to stay in, not animals.

Today Online 29 Jan 07
Do cats belong in our HDB estates?
More owners, more abandoned pets
Letter from Yan Wai Keet
Stray cats pose risks
Letter from GOH KIAN HUAT
Legalise pet cats so you can regulate owners
Letter from Khoo Hwee Boon
Use funds to sterilise
Letter from Rebecca Ho Shu Ling
Culling ineffective
Letter from Shirley Goh

Several letters over the past week, urging the authorities to go beyond euthanasia and culling to control stray-animal populations, have sparked a debate among readers.

Do felines have a place in our heartlands, whether as pets or "community" cats?

I REFER to the letter by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), "Forced to put on the coat of Dr Death" (Jan 24). The SPCA wishes to increase the number of pets allowed in HDB flats to reduce the surplus population of strays.

This sounds perfectly fine, until one starts asking why the animals were abandoned in the first place. Loss of interest? "Accidental" mating resulting in offspring? Whatever the reasons, these owners do not seem to be responsible in sterilising their pets or taking care of them for the duration of their life.

Would allowing more pets in HDB flats solve the problem? I think the opposite might just happen.

Even so, I am heartened by the recent sprouting of animal lovers' groups who are taking public and proactive steps in providing resources for the management of the stray population. I look forward to the day such groupings grow strong enough to work with SPCA to achieve the desired equilibrium.

I REFER to the letter, "'Because cats scare me' is not a good reason" (Jan 20-21). While I appreciate Dr Tan Chek Wee's care and concern for stray cats, I do not understand the reasons for not supporting the way stray animals are treated--qualified veterinarian consultants carry out euthanasia humanely by lethal injection.

HDB dwellers are not allowed to keep cats as pets as they are nomadic in nature and it is difficult to confine them to flats. They shed fur, dirty public places, make noise and cause a disturbance.

While community cats could perform an important function in catching mice, their role is diminishing with the decline in the rat and mouse population in cleaner housing estates.

There are different "categories" of stray cats: Ranging from lost tame pet cats to aggressively feral ones. There are various diseases and parasites cats can get, some of which they can pass on to humans. I believe there are no real benefits to having stray cats around.

As long as such cats are killed professionally and not in a "cruel and abusive" manner, it is socially acceptable.

I HAVE written numerous times to the HDB to review its cat ban policy. Each time, I get a template reply: "Cats are not allowed to be kept in HDB flats as they are nomadic in nature and difficult to keep confined within the flats. The nuisances caused by cats, such as the shedding of fur and defecating and urinating in public areas, would affect the environment and neighbourliness in our housing estates."

Cats do make perfect pets for flats. From years of interaction with them, I know cats can be domesticated and kept strictly indoors. They are clean and they are quiet when sterilised ? more so, in fact, than dogs. They can be trained to do their "business" in a litter tray.

HDB's anti-cat policy just doesn't wash with the more educated resident. As long as HDB refuses to acknowledge this, cat lovers will keep cats illegally. The consequence of this is that the irresponsible ones will continue not to sterilise their cats which therefore continue to caterwaul and procreate. It also leads to pet abandonment.

But if HDB legalises cats as flat pets, then it can also regulate cat ownership--such as through compulsory micro-chipping and licensing. This will help to increase responsible pet ownership and reduce pet abandonment. Isn't this a win-win situation for all?

THE authorities have made the removal of stray cats convenient and cheap for residents--just 10 cents to make a call, and you get speedy service to your doorstep.

In contrast, volunteers who use the humane sterilisation method fork out their own money and time. Sterilising a cat involves booking at appointment with the vet, trapping the cat, keeping it overnight, sending it to the clinic the next day, picking it up afterward, caring for it for two days after surgery and releasing it back to the original location.

I applaud these dedicated caregivers. Results have shown that sterilisation effectively reduces the cat nuisance and population over time. The Town Councils should divert their pest control budget into a sterilisation budget, if its residents are willing to start a Trap-Neuter-Release programme in the neighbourhood.

The Agri-food and Veterinary Authority should resume the Cat Rehabilitation Scheme suspended in 2003.

BY IMPLEMENTING and recommending the Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage programme, the Cat Welfare Society has provided a humane and effective way of managing the cat population in a particular area.

As noted by CWS' Ms Dawn Kua, culling cats will only lead to new, unsterilised cats moving into the vacated turf. This is hardly an effective long-term solution, more a myopic one.

Today Online 30 Jan 07
True, we can do with fewer cats ... through sterilisation
Letter from Dr Tan Chek Wee

In my 28 years as a medical doctor, I have not come across a patient with a cat-transmitted disease. To eliminate all potential sources of infection, do we need to humanely administer lethal injections to every animal, including human beings?

In the 1973 science-fiction movie, Soylent Green, starring a very young Charlton Heston, old people of "no real benefit to be around anymore" are euthanised while watching an old movie of what the Earth once was: Full of greenery with wild animals roaming free. Much as I love cats and other animals (my simple reason for giving up the consumption of meat), I share Mr Goh Kian Huat's sentiment ("Stray cats pose risks", Jan 29) that we can do with fewer cats. Cats here lead very precarious lives, always on the run from pest-controllers and abusers. However, culling them by "humane lethal injection" has not been an effective method of controlling the stray population. It is a waste of the skill of qualified veterinarian consultants who, like me as a medical doctor, would rather save lives. I am sure they would rather sterilise than euthanise. All we need is the green light from the Government to embark on an island-wide sterilisation programme. Then, people like Mr Goh and myself will be equally happy.

Today Online 31 Jan 07
Time to cull those cat myths
Let's first get the facts straight before we deal with strays
Letter from Dawn Kua Director of Operations, Cat Welfare Society

We read with great interest the many letters on cats ("Do cats belong in our HDB estates?", Jan 29).

We would like to clarify some common misconceptions.

Mr Goh Kian Huat said that cats are not allowed to be kept as pets as they are nomadic in nature and they are difficult to confine in flats. This is untrue. Cats are the most popular apartment animals in the United States and in Europe due to their small size, the fact that they are quiet once sterilised, and are low maintenance pets especially for people who work.

They are not "nomadic by nature" and we have letters from more than 30 Singaporean veterinarians to attest to this.

As for the question of diseases, cats are generally very clean animals and most diseases they spread are feline specific--only other cats can catch them. The chances of catching a disease from another person are much higher than of catching one from a cat.

In addition, as Ms Shirley Goh pointed out, cats removed from an estate will just trigger what is known as the vacuum effect. New cats will move in. This will just result in more and more cats being killed--without a decrease in the number of cats in the estate.

If it were, surely the fact that 13,000 cats have been killed annually in Singapore for more than 25 years would have eradicated the community cat population by now.

We have written to the HDB on several occasions and met with them on two separate occasions, asking them to rethink their policy on allowing cats in flats.

We are proposing that cats kept in flats must be sterilised, microchipped for easy identification of the owner, and that they must be kept indoors at all times. Current laws already protect residents in HDB estates from nuisances and these can be used against irresponsible cat owners.

Currently, the laws penalise responsible cat owners who keep their cats indoors at all times, as it does not matter how responsible an owner you are. If you own a cat, you have broken an HDB bylaw and can be complained against, even if your cat is well kept and does not cause a nuisance.

On the other hand, it actually encourages irresponsible pet ownership. People are more likely to allow their cats to wander so that they will not be found to have a cat on the premises should the HDB come to their homes. This causes more problems to their neighbours as the cats are then allowed to wander, causing potential problems for the neighbours, instead of being kept indoors where they do not bother others.

If compliance is simple and inexpensive, by insisting that people need to register, sterilise and microchip their cats, we firmly believe that the majority of people will comply.

It will also be easier to educate people who own cats on how to be responsible pet owners.

Straits Times Forum 31 Jan 07
HDB should allow keeping of cats in flats and come up with strict Dos and Dont's
Letter from Liew Yi Xui (Ms)

Mr Peter Kuan's letter, 'Why HDB should ban cat and dog ownership in flats' (Online forum, Jan 25), had given many seemingly logical reasons to support the current ban on cat ownership in HDB flats.

However, on close scrutiny, one can see that these 'reasons' are just the biases of a person who does not like animals.

Firstly, the so-called problems are all caused by humans. Dogs and cats all defecate in the same manner, that is, tell them where and they'll do it. If the owner tells the dog to defecate at the common areas and refuse to pick up after his dog, is it the fault of the dog or the owner?

Also, animal welfare groups in Singapore have been calling for neutering as part of responsible pet ownership. Territory-marking, or spraying, is usually done by unneutered animals.

As for the noise and smell issues, having noise around us is part and parcel of HDB living. I have grown up to the noise of babies crying, toddlers screaming their lungs out and the noise of a child being caned for naughty deeds. One thing I'm sure is the decibel of a baby's cry is definitely much higher than that of a dog's bark.

Also, the smell is caused by irresponsible owners, not the animal. Imagine not washing your toilet for a week, I'm sure it'll smell as bad.

The case quoted by Mr Kuan is a good illustration of how problems are caused by irresponsible pet owners. It is official that Singapore is rabies-free, so I am not very sure how Mr Kuan came to the conclusion of 'dog-bite = rabies'.

I have been living with cats for many years and despite the voluminous research I have done, I can find only one disease that can be passed on by a cat to a human being - by way of consuming the faeces.

On the other hand, my research also yielded dozens of reports in scientific journals pointing to the advantages of having pets in a household, especially those with children or the elderly. Pets can teach social skills to children, reduce the blood pressure of working adults and provide company to the elderly who are often alone at home.

Coming to the point of animal abusers, all abused animals are strays without a home. The reason why they are without a home is that HDB's ruling says that no cats are allowed in HDB flats.

If HDB relaxes the ruling and allow one cat per household, I believe the number of stray cats available to animal abusers will be greatly reduced and we will see a huge decrease in animal-abuse cases.

I would like to appeal to HDB to consider relaxing the ruling on cats and come up with a full set of dos and don'ts of cat-ownership in HDB. A few suggestions will be to make sterilisation mandatory and the cat should not be allowed to roam outside the unit.

My cats are already part of my life, and my parents treat them like their grandchildren. Do you really want to take my family apart?

Straits Times Forum 31 Jan 07
It's not only the cats - dogs too must be banned
Letter from Heng Cho Choon

Mr Peter Kuan is not alone in being irked day and night by cats and dogs in HDB precincts if his letter, 'Why HDB should ban cat and dog ownership in flats' (Online forum, Jan 25) is anything to go by.

Our so-called pets in public flats have been a bane since the day HDB allowed flat owners to keep such animals, much to the chagrin of those who do not love pets.

The trouble is that many dog owners are so busy with their jobs that they leave the animals to the care of their maids and parents. Some of these maids come from countries where dogs and cats are allowed to defecate in the open and they assume that in Singapore they could do likewise. It is not uncommon to find urine traces on pillars and faeces on the void decks of our HDB flats.

Some dogs have the habit of barking and howling in the middle of the night. Some dogs have the habit of barking when the karung guni men and the newspaper delivery women come calling. This is exasperating for those sick and aged folks who need a good sleep at night and students who are studying hard for their examinations.

The odour of dogs' and cats' hair on the common staircase is most unpleasant. By all means, keep your pets if you have a big house but not when your neighbours are exposed to the smell and noise of your cherished four-footed friends. Perhaps it is time HDB review the rules on the keeping of pets before the situation deteriorates.

Straits Times Forum 31 Jan 07
Don't be swayed by biased arguments, HDB
Letter from Dr Tan Chek Wee

I hope HDB does not the share the same sentiments as Mr Peter Kuan, 'Why HDB should ban cat and dog ownership in flats' (Online forum, Jan 25), in resisting the lifting of the ban on the keeping of cats as companion animals in HDB flats.

As most of us are not brought up in a culture of living with animals, lifting the ban will not lead to an influx of cats into HDB flats. Hence, the scenarios painted in Mr Kuan's letter are misperceived. In fact some children are conditioned by their parents that cats are dirty and 'cause asthma', resulting in public display of negative attitude towards community cats.

The ban has not stopped residents from keeping cats. In fact, the ban has prevented some owners from being responsible. Responsible owners will keep their cats strictly indoors, so that they will not fight and defecate on the corridors. Indoor cats do their 'business' on commercial litter such as recycled biodegradable pellets made from pine dust that cover up the smell of the faeces very well. Abuse of cats will be prevented and reduced with regulations that include keeping them indoor and sterilising them so that there will be fewer abandoned cats on the streets.

I don't know how Mr Kuan came to the conclusion that most dog owners are irresponsible. Responsilble owners are usually not visible as there are no complaints to bring attention to them.

I personally believe that most owners of dogs and cats are responsible. Is it fair to penalise all owners because of a few black sheep?

Let's not be hysterical but practical in resolving problems within an estate. Tolerance is an important pillar of harmony and this applies to issues involving dogs and cats too. Should we be 'punished' for being responsible owners of cats and dogs within our own homes or are we only made to believe that we are 'proud owners of HDB flats'?

Straits Times Forum 31 Jan 07
Points made for cat banning in flats misleading
Letter from Anthony Lee Mui Yu

Mr Peter Kuan's letter, 'Why HDB should ban cat and dog ownership in flats' (Online forum, Jan 25) lists five reasons.

Animals can sensitise individuals - potential zoophobes and abusers - to empathy. Cats and dogs are suitably evocative, resolving the writer's fifth concern that cats in HDB flats would worsen animal abuse.

His fourth worry is rabies from dogs, cat scratches and infection from cat waste. Rabies has been controlled for decades. Today, snake bites are far likelier than rabies from wild mammals.

Cats don't exist to attack us. They scratch to defend - I've played with cats bloodlessly as they tuck in their claws and have self-control. Play with untrimmed nails and your cat would complain. Sars was civet cat- and fowl-linked while pigs were coupled with the Nipah virus. Civets belong to the weasel family. They aren't cats and were acquitted in the Sars witch trials when we euthanised innocuous stray cats and dogs in panic. Food contamination isn't just from excrement, including ours.

With or without pets, few homes suffer contamination. Those that do should improve food-handling hygiene than focus on faecal sources. We owe the toilet seat apologies - bacterial-count studies confirm that repeat-use kitchen towels stand head and shoulders above it.

Mr Kuan's third point is: Indoor cats 'create a strong unpleasant odour' which those expecting should avoid. A healthy creature - including us - shouldn't smell unless unwashed, infected or mis-dieted. We don't bathe cats as they're fastidious self-cleaners - that's why you hear, 'smells like a wet dog' but never about a cat, wet or dry.

Pregnancy hormones can over-sensitise smell receptors. The writer was probably referring to excrement rather than the animal. Banning pets is like prohibiting drinking and shopping to deter lift stench and litter.

Outdoors, cats typically excrete on grass or earth, covering it with soil if available. You can train indoor cats to defecate on cat litter or in your toilet.

His second point is barking dogs and cat caterwauling. Dog-breed selection and training can reduce barking. Spaying females obviates the screeching of competing tomcats - as clipped-ear community cats can testify.

Human-centric arguments are fatuously unjust, unenlightening and misleading.

Straits Times 2 Feb 07
Writers' strong views on cat/dog ban in HDB flats worrying
Letter from Soo Kwok Heng Victoria, Australia

I find the views of those like Mr Heng Cho Choon, 'It's not only the cats - dogs too must be banned' (Online forum, Jan 31), and Mr Peter Kuan, 'Why HDB should ban cat and dog ownership in flats', (Online forum, Jan 25), all too worrying.

Should they have their way, visually-handicapped Singaporeans who get by with the help of guide dogs and who live in HDB flats would have to find alternative accommodation.

From my research, a total of no fewer than seven articles on the usefulness of guide dogs to the visually-handicapped were published in Singapore's mainstream media, alongside the praise heaped on a multitude of government agencies for taking the proactive move towards making Singapore the best home for all.

While guide dogs are obviously suitably chosen and trained to very strict standards for their task, it seems rather inconceivable to Mr Heng and Mr Kuan that pet dogs can also be obedience-trained.

In addition, contrary to HDB's statement that 'cats are not allowed to be kept in HDB flats as they are nomadic in nature and difficult to be confined in the flats', the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) asserts otherwise.

According to AVA's 'Cats as Pets' brochure (available on the AVA website): 'Cats do perfectly well in a confined environment so long as all their basic needs (that is, food and water, shelter, a comfortable living environment and veterinary care) are provided.

This is quite contrary to the popular belief that cats can only be happy and contented if they are free to wander outdoors.

Given that AVA is the veterinary authority in Singapore, it would appear that HDB officials are ill-informed. Of course, objections to the HDB ban on cats (and Mr Kuan's proposed ban on dogs) are multi-faceted and cut across a range of issues.

One objection is that pets cause too much noise. Another, that cats and dogs dirty the environment. While neighbourly concerns do need to be taken into account, I find that those who advocate such a measure as drastic as a ban on pets in public housing silly.

In the multicultural public-housing environment that Singaporeans have lived in for years (and will have to continue to do so); in the land-scarce polity that the Government wishes to pack more people into; in the proactive measures that government agencies have taken towards Mr Kua Cheng Hock who has lobbied for more than 20 years for guide dogs to be allowed, surely learning to accommodate another's differing way of life ought to be seen as a valuable lesson in empathic understanding?

If no, then well, here's just one more snippet from AVA's website: 'It is a misconception that pets cause asthma. Asthma is a genetically inherited condition... Recent studies also show that children living with a dog or cat at home are less likely to develop asthma. This research supports the current thinking among allergists that exposing a child to dust, animal dander and other allergens at a young age will help him build up immunity that will reduce the chances of him developing asthma.'

In other words: Are Singaporeans - in always wanting to ban this or that; in always expecting the Government to take the high-handed route; in wanting the Government to nanny them to the grave - simply a tad too pampered?
links
What's wrong with HDB cats? So cute! as we get up close and personal with a few adorable ones on the urban forest blog
Related articles on Singapore: exotic species, pets and our wild places
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