What drives someone to rescue stray cats? Chiao Yi, a dedicated cat rescuer, shares her journey that began in 2020 with a TNR approach to humanely manage the cat population in Singapore. She discusses the purpose of her work and her hopes for pet owners and volunteers.
#cats #volunteering #Singapore
Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
#cats #volunteering #Singapore
Watch more: https://www.asiaone.com/video
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00What's up?
00:02Your cat is here!
00:06Yeah, I'm very happy.
00:08Really expected actually.
00:10Yeah, lucky day.
00:17Hi, I'm Chiao Yee and I rescue and rehome cats independently.
00:21Cat rescuing to me is just something I try to do,
00:24I try to help with, if I have the time and capacity to.
00:28Because I'm an individual rescuer, so I can better focus my energy
00:33on just managing the cats in the area and those that need my help.
00:36This is my cat, Timmy. He's my first cat.
00:41I first got into this animal welfare, cat welfare thing in 2020
00:46and first started rescuing because my mum found an abandoned black cat near my area.
00:53So, that was when I first rescued, fostered and rehomed a cat on my own.
00:58Ever since then, I've been trying to help with cats that have been abandoned in my area
01:04and I'm proud to say that as of now, all the community cats have been rehomed.
01:09Recently, Project Loony, which consists of a group of volunteers who are passionate about animal welfare
01:24contacted me about this family of cats that has been living at the car park near my house.
01:29So, they activated me to go and help.
01:32We are quite anxious because we already know that she's had two litres of kittens outside
01:37and we want to help her to stop this endless cycle of getting pregnant and having to give birth outside also.
01:44We've been shaking and calling them for around one hour and it's a bit sad
01:49but I don't think they're coming out today.
01:51So, we'll wrap up for today and we'll try again tomorrow.
01:53I think most importantly is that they will come out on Sunday for the actual trapping.
01:58The aim of them asking me to help is so that we can successfully TNR the cats.
02:02So, what is TNR?
02:04TNR stands for Trap, Neutral and Release.
02:06So, the process is just as the name goes.
02:08First, we will condition and trap the cats.
02:12Next, we will send them for sterilisation, either neutral or spayed based on their gender.
02:17And the last one will be R, which is either rehome or release them back to the community as community cats.
02:27Ultimately, the main point is that TNR saves lives.
02:37TNR is the most effective way and it's also a very humane way to manage the stray cat population.
02:53It's also scientifically the best way because if we do not manage it, number one
02:59the cats will be culled, also known as being put to sleep in shelters
03:03because they don't have the capacity for them.
03:07On number two, they will continue to be born and live outside.
03:11Yeah.
03:19So, by TNR-ing them, we can manage the population to a number that individual caretakers can manage for
03:24and we can help to improve and maintain their quality of life through that.
03:37By TNR-ing Maya, Maya is no longer burdened by having to look after her kittens or having to give birth again.
03:44And she can focus her energy on taking care of herself and being a cat.
03:49Yeah, so I named the mama cat Maya.
03:51Even after being sterilised and released, my plan for her is to release her to the community first
03:56and to make sure that she is not put to sleep in a shelter again.
03:59So, I have to make sure that she is not put to sleep in a shelter again.
04:02My plan for her is to release her to the community first and I'll feed her every day to slowly gain her trust
04:09until she is ready enough to be rehomed.
04:15I think it's a misunderstanding though.
04:17Before that, I had a dog and I was a dog person.
04:19After I had cats, I realised they are just easier versions of dogs.
04:25So, I have two cats of my own. They are Timmy and Kali and they are both adopted.
04:29After adopting Timmy, I created an Instagram page for him and I think through that Instagram page,
04:34I got to know a lot more about cat welfare through the cat community there.
04:38And that's when I started to realise that I actually have the capacity to help cats myself.
04:46I don't have to be a professional rescuer or anyone from an organisation in order to help.
04:52Ever since I started rescuing cats, I think my social media has been helping me a lot with the rehoming
04:59because I post my adoption posts up there.
05:02I use it to share daily moments of my pets and also try to spread more awareness about animal welfare in Singapore.
05:11Using my Instagram page, I managed to successfully rehome more than 10 cats in my area.
05:16One thing that a lot of cat rescuers say is,
05:18Okay, this is my last one. I don't want to do it anymore.
05:21Because it's really very stressful because not only do you have to look after the cat,
05:25sometimes they come to you with a lot of health issues.
05:28A lot of times, it's more of humans who are the issues.
05:33For example, you have to bring them to see the vet at least every single year to make sure that they are healthy
05:38and all these will add up to a cost that a lot of owners don't realise at first.
05:44When they realise that they cannot pay the bills or they cannot cope with it,
05:49then that's when they start to try to abandon their cats, try to rehome their cats.
05:53And that is quite sad.
05:55So, you must always think through it thoroughly before you get a pet.
06:01Even though animal welfare isn't like a human social issue, it is definitely an issue in society.
06:08And just because it's not a social issue, it's not receiving a lot of attention from governments and organisations
06:14that have more power to help.
06:15Hence, that's why I think it's even more important for individuals to be able to step up.
06:20Even if you cannot help, you can still help.
06:24Hence, that's why I think it's even more important for individuals to be able to step up.
06:29Even if you cannot help the cats that are in need, at least you can help to spread awareness so that we can change for the better.
06:37Even out of animal welfare, I think a huge misconception that people have is that
06:42only big organisations or professionals have the ability or the capacity to help.
06:46But that is not true.
06:47Individuals do have the power to help, even if the impact is to a smaller extent.
06:53So, guys, we can all step up.