A few months ago my wife and I took a walk through Seashell Park. It’s a small park that’s located behind a hawker center in Pasir Ris. It’s not incredibly well maintained, but it’s nice nonetheless. One of the things I enjoy about Singapore is that despite it being a city, there are still plenty of open areas where you can try to enjoy nature a bit, manicured though it may be.
While walking through the park we were surprised at the number of cats we saw. It seems to be a home for many of them. There was one (not pictured below) that had a collar on, so I think that some of them must leave their houses during the day to enjoy the sunshine and then go home at night.
The problem of strays in Singapore is a pretty big one. People don’t seem to understand the value that cats hold in pest control, but rather think of the cats themselves as pests. I for one am all for the humane treatment of cats, even when they’re strays. There’s a better method than culling, which is what many residents and Town Councils seem to think is the answer to everything from cat ‘nuisances’ to there being too many pigeons in the area.
That’s really a story for another blog post though. I just wanted to share a few pictures of the cats we saw up there in the park.
Bradley Farless 