(Singapore) Youths lead the way: First Animal Protectors Grant recipients announced!

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Inaugural grant for animal welfare projects launched

 

Ryan Huang, Channel NewsAsia 4 Sep 08SINGAPORE: More animal welfare initiatives

are set to take off in Singapore, thanks to the launch of an inaugural

grant.Animal welfare projects have been handed a boost, with eight groups -

majority of them youths - winning a grant of about S$1,000 each for their

projects.The Animal Protectors Grant was launched by four local groups, which

comprise of an animal welfare charity and three university student

organisations.The grant aims to allow winners to focus more on their projects,

instead of worrying about funding.Executive director of Animal Concerns Research

& Education Society, Louis Ng, said: " It's a really good example of active

citizenry here, where today we have members of the public from all walks of life

come together to fight for a common goal to make a difference to animals and the

community here in Singapore. " Most of the winning ideas focus on raising

awareness of illegal trading of exotic pets and sterilisation of stray dogs and

cats.One group is producing a documentary on responsible pet ownership, while

another is looking into story books for children.A member from one of the

winning groups, Kevin Brandy Budiman, said: " We surveyed some audience, about 30

people. Most of them say a story book is an interesting way to educate children.

And we believe by educating children, it will be more efficient - they will have

the foundation to love animals. " The eight groups will present the results of

their projects at the Singapore Animal Welfare Symposium in May next year.

Youth step up for the animalsEight groups get first seed-funding-ever for animal

welfare initiatives

Ong Dai Lin, Today Online 5 Sep 08ONE group of Anglo-Chinese Junior College

(ACJC) students wants to hold a week-long carnival to raise awareness — complete

with “cruelty-free” vegetarian food and a petition to ban foie gras.Another team

from Admiralty Secondary School plans to produce a documentary about animal

welfare, which they hope will be shown in other schools and even incorporated

into the Civics and Moral Education curriculum.These young people don’t just

love animals but are also out to persuade their peers to respect their fellow

creatures. The students are among the eight groups that yesterday received the

inaugural Animal Protectors Grant.The grant is Singapore’s first to provide seed

funding specially for animal welfare initiatives. It is managed by The Animal

Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres), NTU Animal Lovers Society, NUS

Students’ Animal Welfare Group, and People for Animal Welfare at SMU.The groups

will each get sums ranging from $915 to $1,350, sponsored by the Lee Foundation

which has been supporting Acres since 2001.Significantly, 32 of the 34

participants are youth.Raffles Institution studentKevin Brandy Budiman — who

with his schoolmates want to reach out through storybooks that tell of the

selling of turtle eggs and abuse of primates in lab experiments — said they had

surveyed some 30 people.“Most of them say a storybook is an interesting way to

educate children. And we believe by educating children, it will be more

efficient; they will have the foundation to love animals.”Calling the groups’

proposals “active citizenry at its best”, Acres executive director Louis Ng

said: “We had the first Singapore Animal WelfareSymposium this year and we

don’twant the public to just learn aboutanimal welfare. We want them to

takeaction.”Two groups focused on the issue of the illegal wildlife trade. One

proposes putting up posters in pet shops, identifying animals that are often

bought and sold in shops, and the penalties involved. Students from Raffles

Girls’ School have pledged to fight the exotic pet trade by holding

roadshows.The groups will present the results of their projects next May, at the

second Singapore Animal WelfareSymposium.

Problem of strays? 'Cat cafes' may helpNTU campus project is one of 8 animal

welfare ideas to get Lee Foundation funds

Ang Yiying, The Straits Times 5 Sep 08

THE small population of stray cats on the Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

campus has been the subject of complaints from people who are not really

enthusiastic about cats or animals in general.Computer science lecturer and cat

lover Kevin Anthony Jones, 51, is hoping to see these strays fed regularly and

responsibly, and sterilised to control their numbers. He wants to do a study to

show that this can be achieved.His solution: more 'cat cafes' on campus, where

the strays can be fed in fixed spots and monitored. This way, the campus is not

littered with uneaten food; managing the strays will also keep the animals out

of the way of people who dislike them.Mr Anthony has just received $1,300 in

funding to set up his feeding spots and publish a paper on the subject. He and

seven groups of animal rights activists, including five consisting of students,

have received a total of $8,822 from the Lee Foundation for their animal welfare

projects.Three student animal welfare groups and the Animal Concerns Research

and Education Society (Acres) are administering the fund, dubbed the Animal

Protectors Grant.Acres executive director Louis Ng said the 14 applications

received were judged on their 'creativity, sustainability, newness and

impact'.Among the other successful applicants is a group of four Anglo-Chinese

Junior College students who want to run an 'Animal Rights' week in their school,

and a group of four youngsters seeking to help control the population of stray

dogs through a nationwide programme to trap, neuter and then return the animals

to the neighbourhoods where they were found.Two other student groups have chosen

to focus their projects on the illegal wildlife trade. One, comprising four

students from three different schools, will put up posters about the illegal

trade in animals in pet shops and at the airport. The group's spokesman says

research has shown that posters strike fear in animal smugglers, shaking their

confidence that they can get away with running an illegal trade.The groups will

present the results of their projects at the second Singapore Animal Welfare

Symposium in May next year.

 

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