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Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The full story: Dumpling, another glue trap kitten from Novena Square 2

On Monday, Nova's rescuers called us to tell us they found - another - kitten that was covered in glue, trapped in the ceiling inside Square 2 at Novena. This kitten like Nova probably tore self off the glue trap and ended up covered in the glue and traumatised. Dumpling was rushed over to our foster home.

When Dumpling first arrived


She is likely Nova's sister, but a bit more feral. She also has one eye missing, instead of an eye it is an empty eye socket. The vet agrees that the eye was either born missing or it was lost (maybe eaten by the very rats Square 2 is breeding) at a very early age. Likely cross-Siamese, she has lilac/chocolate markings on her ears and at the tip of her tail.

Still stressed


After many olive oil and shampoo baths, she is more or less clean now, and will need a lot of socialisation to become adoptable, chances of which are already stacked against her because of her missing eye. After which, she will see the vet again for vaccinations and be made available for adoption. She is now about 9 weeks old.

Almost completely free of sticky glue now


We wrote to Far East Organisation, asking them to remove all glue traps on the premises, as well as provide us a written reply. Regardless of what your ethics about killing animals of any kind, the humane option is to opt for the least painful option of pest control, as well as targeted pest control measures for the specific pest problem. Glue traps cause slow and painful deaths, and are indiscriminate as they do not always trap rats in the first place.



They have not responded, but the story has gone onto STOMP already. Feel free to write to any other appropriate channels in order to pressure Square 2's building management to respond swiftly. We will continue to post updates on Dumpling online as she gets better. Likely yet another bath today, and if no longer sticky, she can join Nova and his roommates.

Update 14 Nov 2013:
Have spoken with Square 2 folks and they were truly unaware about the horrors of glue traps as their external NEA approved pest control vendor was the one that proposed them. Have advised them to look at more comprehensive methods of rodent control, that is, looking at food sources and entry points, and looking at cage based traps that do not inflict slow and painful deaths nor leave carcasses in places away from the traps which will cause even more hygiene issues. Also advised them to consult with SPCA for complete list of alternatives as they have been campaigning against glue traps since 2009 and have more info. Security personnel have already been instructed to be vigilant if they hear or see any animals in distress and glue traps have been retracted. We also spoke to them about helping with TNR should they have a sizeable stray cat problem.



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