I was reading Calsifer's take on sterilisation, more likely the lack of sterilisation. I just want to put my thoughts down before I procrastinate further.

Fact is, the main barrier to the success of sterilisation is ignorance. There is still a population of cat lovers who do not see its health benefits and the killings that result in not sterilising their cats & strays.

And for those who are aware, there is always a fraction of them who are unaware subsidies made available by CWS. They are still think sterilisation is expensive - hence statements like "husband is a low income earner, already feeding a large family" etc etc.

Perception that sterilisation is bad goes beyond religious beliefs & financial difficulties. There are people who tells me that sterilisation as unfair, cruel, harmful & unnatural - "cats are animals ... it is cruel to curb their animal instincts ... they should be able to mate at least once ... blah blah blah" It is ignorance again.


I always asked them:

1. Do you know that neutering is not a cruel mutilation or just a means of preventing unwanted pregnancies but it is in fact beneficial to your cat's health?

2. Are you aware of CWS subsidies for sterilising your strays?

3. Do you know that taking care of kittens is hard work & it takes ages to find good homes for them?

4. Do you know how many cats are killed each year by AVA simply because there are too many of them on the streets? 13,000!

Education is the key & hopefully evangelising sterilisation will encourage more people to have their cats & strays sterilised & reduce the number of unnecessary destruction.