Friday, August 9, 2013

Willy's (aka Agent William's) evening at the playground

Breaking news! Willy came for dinner this evening!

So, it looks like everything's back to normal.

And oh, I must apologise for the codename "Agent Orange" as I could not for the life of me (at the time, this morning in my exhilaration) recall whether it is the name of a deadly chemical weapon in Vietnam OR the name of a food colouring (which I now remember is "Tartrazine"), so I just went with the name.

Since it IS the name of a deadly weapon, Willy's codename is no longer "Agent Orange" anymore, but "Agent William" and ONLY if he goes on his secret MI-6 missions, which I hope will not happen often.

The Patio Family had dinner this evening, and Mr Zurik was caged again while Willy ate his ID kibbles. I did not get the Yakult, all nearby shops being closed, but will endeavour to get it real soon.

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Willy ate his dinner without any incident.


What I noticed was that all afternoon, Willy wasn't anywhere in the playground at all, which implies that he HAS a home.


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Anyway, after dinner, Willy went over to the playground and watched the children cycling. He didn't seem afraid.

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Did Willy travel by this Tardis to another time zone to carry out his mission during the past four days?


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He usually hangs out on these steps.


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If Mr Zurik doesn't come, there is peace.


Meanwhile, a friend sent me this (below). Isn't it so cute?


cat on pink bicycle


She said Willy must have surfed the internet, seen this picture and decided to come back!


As I was cycling this evening, I noticed another bigger orange cat with a large face (which usually means he is not neutered).


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That's the other orange cat, and he was seen approaching, just 3 houses away from our house.


I do hope he doesn't come as one of the neighbours actually came over just now to "report" to me personally that cats have been going into her house and that she does not like it. She said it is because I feed the cats as she'd seen me feeding cats at my culvert. I explained to her that these are the community cats, not my pets, and I have got them all neutered so that they will not breed anymore, but she wasn't interested in any of that. She just kept saying that the previous owner of my house never fed cats so she had no cat problem and she was very happy then. Now that I feed, it is causing her a cat problem because the cats enter her house.


I explained that she could wirenet her house to prevent them from entering and invited her to look at my wirenet, but she wasn't interested.


She just kept saying what she wanted to say. But she interspersed every few sentence by saying she wasn't blaming me.


I wasn't sure what she wanted to say, because she appeared to be contradicting herself. So I just offered to let her look at my wirenet, but she didn't want to look. I can only think of buying her a water-spray the next time I go out. That might help.


I think the bottom line is that she hoped I wouldn't feed the cats.


I remember a friend's advice that wherever you live, you will sometimes encounter people who simply cannot tolerate the presence of animals and there is no use in trying to explain anything to them because our reasoning will simply not get through to them. Just offer to help them with their problem (like wash off the urine, or pick up the poo, or whatever that helps the problem). Don't fight them. The animals might lose in the end.


Looks like I have to address this problem now.


So, I might just buy her a water-spray, for starters.


Any ideas? Please share by leaving a comment. Thank you.

14 comments:

Karmen said...

sigh... how do you help ignorance? that's sad. :(

chankahyein said...

Yes, Karmen. That says it all. The wise will say that Kindness is the greatest wisdom; that we are all deeply connected as one. The ignorant will say, "No, the earth is only for us humans, not the animals" while others will say, "No, the earth is ONLY for whites, not blacks or the coloured people" and this explains why we shall never live in peace UNTIL humans become wiser. But we have to deal with the ignorant as they live amongst us and we cannot expect them to be kind because the wisdom just isn't there yet, so we have to deal with them wisely so that our animals do not get victimised in the process. In other words, we have to "get real".

Koo said...

I have taken the extreme opposite when dealing with such intolerant bully neighbours and would have given her the cold shoulder, stares with daggers and even make snipe remarks back at her. Animal haters tend to think that animal lovers are soft-hearted for the sake of their furkids. My neighbours thought I was such so they didn't expect me to fire back with all guns blazing and as a result, they seldom dare to raise such matters with me. One must draw the line and not back down. As long as I neuter/spay to avoid litters & behaviors related to being on heat, keep our areas clean and quiet, I won't have to bend backward for haters. My stance is simple: Anyone gives me trouble, I'll give them hell!

chankahyein said...

Hi Koo, Would they do terrible things like hurt or poison the animals in retaliation? Because Bosco died of poisoning and I don't know how that happened. Shortly before Bosco died, a neighbour complained loudly that cats defecated in his garden and he was very unhappy about it.

Penyayang Kucing said...

Kah Yein,
Di dunia ini ada dua jenis jiran pembenci binatang, satu jenis ialah pergi majlis bandaran buat report tentang
bau busuk dan bunyi bising binatang sehinggakan jabatan kesihatan terus hantar notis 1, 2 dan seterusnya kompaun dikeluarkan kerana kita ada binatang. Binatang yang kita bela memang tidak mengganggu mereka, tetapi mereka tidak suka nampak binatang kita ada dalam kawasan kita. Baru-baru ini berlaku pada diri saya, saya ada upah pekerja datang sehari dua kali buat kerja pembersihan, dan semua binatang saya sudah saya kasi, macam mana boleh keluarkan bunyi bising?
Lagi sejenis jiran pembenci binatang, bila terhidu bau tahi di depan jalanraya menghadap pintu rumahnya dan di belakang rumah ada bau busuk tahi, dia akan datang rumah saya berkata kepada saya supaya jangan buang tahi binatang di depan rumahnya, dia kata you orang bela binatang main-main tapi tahi buang merata-rata, Mr T sudah datang banyak kali memberitahu saya, saya cuba menjelaskan sila masuk rumah saya tengok keadaan rumah saya adakah ada bau busuk atau bunyi bising? Saya juga memberitahu kerja pembersihan semua masuk plastik beg hitam dan masuk tong sampah dan setengah masuk tangki septik, saya membela binatang kerana dunia ini tidak aman, anjinglah yang menjaga rumah,bukan membela anjing untuk main-main, anjing saya tidak dibawa keluar, pintu depan dia busuk tidak ada kaitan dengan saya, lepas itu, setiap kali dia datang buat aduan, saya pasti bagi dia gemichip, pine disinfectant, Sebenarnya Mr T ini kena siasat siapa punya anjing buat bussiness di depan rumah dia, jangan sesekali menuduh orang tanpa
bukti yang kukuh. Sudah banyak kali saya pergi tempat dia untuk tolong dia guna plastik dan sarung tangan pick up the poo, saya tidak boleh bermusuhan dengan dia kerana saya takut binatang saya yang menjadi mangsa, kalau kita berjiran dengan jiran yang tidak suka binatang memang sangat susah, sebab kita sudah banyak buat kerja pembersihan di rumah, dia terhidu bau busuk, dia pun kata rumah kita berbau busuk kerana tahi binatang.
Apa yang saya lakukan adalah saya selalu cuba mengutip tahi binatang setiap hari di belakang dan hadapan rumah saya sungguhpun bukan tahi binatang saya, segala sisa baki atau plastik beg semasa memberi binatang liar makan harus kutip dan buang, kurangkan kadar kebisingan binatang kerana mereka bergaduh, jiran saya memang tidak suka kebisingan binatang.

Koo said...

I have read such threats on my community page and I just 'educate' them on the animal cruelty laws and the penalties when convicted in addition to the public shame and lifetime criminal record. By even foolhardily making such threats, they are already the main suspects in any case. I would also remind everyone that once such furkid killers cross the line to take a furkid's life especially after knowing the consequences, this person may not hesitate to even murder a fellow human being next. However, to address this problem, I also took the initiative to implement the neighborhood TNRM stray cat project and publicize about it to show that there is a humane solution. Currently, it seemed to be working for me.

chankahyein said...

My neighbourhood, unfortunately, isn't at all interested in the welfare of the community cats (there are no community dogs). There are many dog-owners, but they seem to just love their own dogs. One even told me that if cats disturb him, he would catch them and throw them far away (he owns two dogs whom he dearly loves). I write emails to the neighbourhood e-group telling them about CNRM, inviting them to participate, offering subsidies but so far, no one is interested (save for the one cat-feeder whom we helped with subsidies even before I moved here). One lady pressed my doorbell shortly after and asked if I could take over someone's pet-cats. When I asked her to email me the photos, she never followed up. That's about all the response I've got so far from this neighbourhood. I would be grateful enough if (a) nobody calls the council to catch the cats, (b) nobody harms the cats. In fact, I would be so thankful for (a) and (b) and that would be all I hope for. I just want the cats to be safe.
It is so different when I speak with a compassionate crowd. They are READY to listen and to learn. They respond to what I say and you'd see good results.
That's the difference - some people are ready to learn and become better human beings, some are just not ready...YET. Some, unfortunately, are still living in the pit of selfishness and ignorance.

Chen said...

This is an issue that gives me a lot of heartache. So nothing to say here except: "Kudos Koo. Way to go! Give 'em hell."

Agnes said...

I was told a friend who has 9 indoor/outdoor adult cats told her neighbours when she first moved into the neighbourhood that if they see cats' faeces in their compound, to inform her and she/her maid will go over to clean it up. Also if they see her cat scratching on their cars, she will pay for the polishing or repainting of the scratched area.

Bern said...

i encounter this all the time, even in my own home in Penang. My own mother is of this sort...And so i choose to be the ignorant one, and do my thing...Can't fight these sorts. To me, it's their karma. I just do what i can for these little lives. But if humans cross my line, i would fight back, and have even fought with my own mother on this. If they have chosen not to listen and understand...Their lost.

chankahyein said...

Her problem was cats entering her house, not poo-ing in her garden. I told her to wirenet, she refused to even listen. When we first moved here, she rang our doorbell because she did not like us parking the car across the road from her house. So...she's not easy to deal with.

Koo said...

This is a grim reminder why furkid killers must be brought to book: http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2013/08/14/man-beats-puppy-to-death-then-repeats-crime-on-stepson.aspx

chankahyein said...

The fact that a human kills or abuses any animal is enough for him to be booked, but I'd like to know, what are the evidence that we need, and how much evidence do we need before we can bring up such cases, and to whom? Is it only to the DVS? For kidnapping of pets, the police will take it up, I was told. But for abuse and cruelty, is it the DVS? And how much evidence or what kind of evidence do we need? Is a threat enough? For eg, someone has openly threatened to harm a community cat or dog, and you have it recorded, is this enough? But what if you don't have a video recording or eye witness of the person actually doing it?

Koo said...

From my layman understanding derived from my attending a short course on laws relating to animal abuse, talking to policemen and DVS officers at exhibitions, the first thing is NOT to remove the living/dead furkid no matter what the circumstances or how bad the situation is. Contact and follow-up with DVS to visit asap to document the evidence and they will bring the abused/dead furkid to their own government vets for treatment or autopsy. Private vets' testimonies may not be legally strong enough or the vet might refuse to get involved. Most of the time, rescuers blindly follow their emotions and rush in to remove the abused furkid or worse, bury a dead one because they believe that the furkids' 'souls' shouldn't suffer any more through autopsy. They don't think of the possible future victims of the abusers and breaking the vicious cycle.

Secondly, the eye-witnesses must come forward and willing to testify against the abusers through a police report and court case. Take pictures, film and write notes to ensure that details are recorded down. Third parties such as those who view recordings on Facebook or Youtube doesn't count much as witnesses. Sadly, some are not willing to do so because of the publicity involved.

Last but most important, widespread publicity on such a case is needed especially from the mass media. It seemed that sometimes, the relevant authorities are unwilling to prosecute due to the low penalties involved but will do so if there is a public outcry. Although it might be just be a RM200 fine but once convicted, the abusers will have a LIFETIME criminal record which WILL affect his/her life in many aspects.