Cats who teach me to fly…

The picture of Magna and her baby appeared on my Facebook yesterday. The minute I looked at them, I smiled and felt warmth. They had all my blessings immediately and I thought to myself that the love of an animal mother was no less than any human being.

Look at the soulful eyes of Magna’s baby. A newborn life, young and filled with energy. The baby clung tightly onto its mother. The mother wanted nothing but to hold her baby close to her. Hmm… So, I carried on reading what was written at the bottom of the picture on my Facebook.

Below was written by Sabrina who witnessed the whole thing and the message goes…

“When i first saw Magna, she was heavily pregnant and holding onto a magnum ice cream wrapper. This picture of her with her newborn was taken 2 weeks back. Today she went into an AVA trap along with her baby still clinging onto her. Today is their last day. All it takes is just 1 person to complain and randomised culling takes place.

How does removing a mother and her kid change the situation? How do you justify trapping wildlife in the forest, when that is where they stay? Saddened by two lives lost but this fight continues. Many more lives are in urgent need for help. RIP.”

I was shocked, unbelievable, sad, hurt, lost for words and angry at the same time… I didn’t know what to say… I didn’t know who to vent my dissatisfaction, who to vent my unhappiness and who to vent my anger… I remained silent… I kept looking at the photo. Two lives gone for a selfish reason.

I remember strolling at Macritchie with Mel a few months ago. There were landed properties nearby and we saw monkeys on the trees. So I asked Mel why those houses were built so close to the forest. It just did not make sense. And why did these residents choose to buy houses so near to the forest where wildlife like monkeys live. Since they know that there are monkeys around, why did they still choose to live here? The residents here are not at all intelligent, are they?

Yes, when the unintelligent complained, many monkeys were trapped and taken away by an unintelligent organisation, the AVA.

When human beings make mistake, the animals suffer. When SARS broke out because of some greedy human beings ate food that were not supposed to be eaten got the virus, countless animals suffer.

Will mankind ever learn? Will AVA be a little more hardworking and just a little bit more intelligent?

An unforgettable picture of Magna and her baby from the Bukit Butok troop, trapped in the forest of De Souza Ave. They looked so much alive! And yet their lives were ruined by human being’s own selfish reasons and in the incapable hands of AVA, the Agri-Food And Veterinary Authority of Singapore.

P/S: I emailed AVA and questioned the authority.