logo
Happy, healthy, home-ready: Sanctuary prepares rescued kitties for adoption

Happy, healthy, home-ready: Sanctuary prepares rescued kitties for adoption

Straits Times6 days ago
Find out what's new on ST website and app.
Ms Eva Helina Irman, operations manager of Little Katpaws, keeping the cats at the animal shelter active.
SINGAPORE – Ms Eva Helina Irman runs Little Katpaws, a cat shelter on the second floor of a shophouse in Aliwal Street.
The cat sanctuary, about 2,000 sq ft, is designed like a home for felines to roam freely.
This is to help the rescued cats 'acclimate to human homes should they get adopted', said Ms Eva, 28, who is the operations manager.
Little Katpaws was started by her 48-year-old mother Katrina Shamsudin in 2016.
'It was a small place located at Ming Arcade in Cuscaden Road. We had only 10 cats then,' Ms Eva told The Straits Times.
'I was 13 when I pestered her into fostering some cats. Eventually, it became her pet project,' Ms Eva said of her mother.
'We moved to a much bigger place in North Bridge Road in 2020 and at one point, we even helped rescue 40 cats from a hoarder. We managed to find homes for 25 of them. A few of those cats are still with us,' she added.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore 1 in 3 vapes here laced with etomidate; MOH working with MHA to list it as illegal drug: Ong Ye Kung
Singapore HSA extends hotline hours, launches new platform to report vaping offences
Singapore Tampines regional centre set to get more homes, offices and public amenities
Multimedia How to make the most out of small homes in Singapore
World Diplomats dismissed: Inside the overhaul reshaping Trump's foreign policy
Life US tech CEO Andy Byron resigns after viral Coldplay 'kiss cam' video
Opinion I thought I was a 'chill' parent. Then came P1 registration
Singapore 'God and government are the only things beyond our control,' says Trip.com Group CEO
Her mother used to run a boarding place for cats but called it quits after 'some owners stopped paying for the food and board, or simply became uncontactable when it was time for the cats to go home', according to Ms Eva, who previously worked for charities.
'The boarding provided income for the sanctuary. With that gone, we depend on donations from kind people and that makes up 30 per cent of our expenditure. The rest comes from our own pockets,' she said.
Cats are allowed to roam the shelter, but those that are sick are confined in glass rooms.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
The largest portion of the expenses goes to veterinary care and food. On some months, the donations dipped so low that almost 90 per cent of the costs came out of their own pockets.
Today, Little Katpaws houses a total of 30 cats. Ms Eva has capped the number at 40 to prevent overcrowding.
She has also installed created rooms with glass doors to separate cats infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) or feline leukaemia virus (FeLV) so that the healthy ones are protected.
FIV attacks a cat's immune system, leaving it vulnerable to infections. FeLV is a form of leukaemia that causes a variety of diseases as it invades cells in the immune system and blood-forming tissues.
Segregating the sick kitties 'does not mean these cats do not get sun and exercise', Ms Eva said.
Two of the 30 cats at the sanctuary. Operations manager Eva Helina Irman said many of the residents are ready for adoption.
ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
They are let out at different times of the day to roam some of the other rooms, which would be thoroughly cleaned after use.
'Cat shelters need to prioritise the well-being of their feline residents. Therefore, they need to provide adequate space, safe and clean environments, and proper healthcare,' she added.
Currently, there are no common set of national guidelines to help shelters adopt best practices across the board.
Ms Eva relies on what she has learnt online and through experiences to ensure her feline residents are 'happy, healthy and ready to be adopted'.
'Only when the new regulations come out will we see how we can tweak our current practices to ensure we toe the line,' she said.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Iran says it held ‘frank' nuclear talks with European powers
Iran says it held ‘frank' nuclear talks with European powers

Straits Times

time20 minutes ago

  • Straits Times

Iran says it held ‘frank' nuclear talks with European powers

Find out what's new on ST website and app. A European delegation leaving the Iranian Consulate in Istanbul, following nuclear talks on July 25. ISTANBUL - Iranian diplomats said they held 'frank and detailed' nuclear talks on July 25 with counterparts from Germany, Britain and France, who have threatened to trigger sanctions if Tehran fails to agree a deal on uranium enrichment and cooperation with UN inspectors. The meeting in Istanbul was the first since Israel launched an attack on Iran in June targeting key nuclear and military sites, sparking a 12-day war and leading Tehran to pull away from working with the UN watchdog. The European diplomats were seen leaving the Iranian consulate shortly before 1100 GMT (7pm in Singapore) after spending several hours inside. Israel's offensive – which killed top commanders, nuclear scientists and hundreds of others and in which residential areas and military sites were struck – also derailed US-Iran nuclear talks that began in April. Since then, the European powers, known as the E3, have threatened to trigger a so-called 'snapback mechanism' under a moribund 2015 nuclear deal that would reinstate UN sanctions on Iran by the end of August. The sanctions trigger expires in October, and Tehran has warned of consequences should the E3 opt to activate it. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr Kazem Gharibabadi, who attended the talks alongside senior Iranian diplomat Majid Mr Takht-Ravanchi, wrote on X that he had used the meeting to criticise the European stance on the 12-day conflict with Israel. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Singapore S'pore could have nuclear energy 'within a few years', if it decides on it: UN nuclear watchdog chief Life 'Do you kill children?': Even before independence, S'pore has always loved its over-the-top campaigns Singapore Lung damage, poor brain development, addiction: What vaping does to the body Singapore Tipsy Collective sues former directors, HR head; alleges $14m lost from misconduct, poor decisions Singapore Fine for couple whose catering companies owed $432,000 in salaries to 103 employees Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly He said the snapback mechanism had also been discussed, adding: 'It was agreed that consultations on this matter will continue.' Mr Takht-Ravanchi told state news agency IRNA the Iranian side had demanded 'punitive sanctions' be lifted 'as soon as possible'. Before the talks, a European source said the three countries were preparing to trigger the mechanism 'in the absence of a negotiated solution'. The source urged Iran to make 'clear gestures' on uranium enrichment and resuming cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog. 'Common ground' Mr Gharibabadi warned earlier in the week that triggering sanctions – which would deepen Iran's international isolation and place further pressure on its already strained economy – would be 'completely illegal'. He accused European powers of 'halting their commitments' under the 2015 deal, which the United States unilaterally withdrew from in 2018 during President Donald Trump's first term. 'We have warned them of the risks, but we are still seeking common ground to manage the situation,' said Mr Gharibabadi. Iranian diplomats have previously warned that Tehran could withdraw from the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty if sanctions were reimposed. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has urged European powers to trigger the mechanism. Israel's June 13 attack on Iran came two days before Tehran and Washington were scheduled to meet for a sixth round of nuclear negotiations. On June 22, the US joined Israel's offensive by striking Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz. Before the war, the US and Iran were divided over uranium enrichment – with Tehran describing it as a 'non-negotiable' right, while Washington called it a 'red line'. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Iran is enriching uranium to 60 per cent purity – far above the 3.67 per cent cap under the 2015 deal and close to weapons-grade levels. Tehran has said it is open to discussing the rate and level of enrichment, but not the right to enrich uranium. A year after the US withdrew from the nuclear deal, Iran began rolling back its commitments, which had placed restrictions on its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Israel and Western powers accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran has repeatedly denied. 'New form' Iran insists it will not abandon its nuclear programme, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi describing the position as 'unshakable'. Though he claimed enrichment had come to a halt because of 'serious and severe' damage to nuclear sites caused by US and Israeli strikes, the full extent of the damage sustained in the US bombing remains unclear. Mr Trump claimed at the time the sites had been 'completely destroyed', but US media reports based on Pentagon assessments cast doubt on the scale of destruction . Since the 12-day war, Iran has suspended cooperation with the IAEA, accusing it of bias and failing to condemn the attacks. Inspectors have since left the country but a technical team is expected to return in the coming weeks after Iran said future cooperation would take a 'new form'. Israel has warned it may resume strikes if Iran rebuilds facilities or moves toward weapons capability. Iran has pledged a 'harsh response' to any future attacks. AFP

SpaceX probes for cause of Starlink's global satellite network outage
SpaceX probes for cause of Starlink's global satellite network outage

Straits Times

time20 minutes ago

  • Straits Times

SpaceX probes for cause of Starlink's global satellite network outage

Find out what's new on ST website and app. A 2022 photo shows Ukrainians using a Starlink terminal after Russia's retreat from the Ukrainian city of Kherson. SAN FRANCISCO - SpaceX's Starlink satellite network was back up and running on July 25 as engineers hunted for the root cause of one of its biggest international outages the night before, a rare disruption for the powerful internet system set off by an internal software failure. Users in the US and Europe began experiencing the outage at around 3pm EDT on July 24 (3am on July 25 in Singapore), according to Downdetector, a crowdsourced outage tracker that said as many as 61,000 user reports to the site were made. In Ukraine, where troops rely heavily on Starlink for battlefield communications, the outage affected combat operations as service was 'down across the entire front,' said Major Robert Brovdi, the commander of Ukraine's drone forces. Starlink, active in roughly 140 countries and territories and used by a growing number of militaries and government agencies, is a key source of revenue for Mr Elon Musk's SpaceX. The network has grown rapidly since 2020 into a disruptive force in the satellite communications industry. Starlink acknowledged the outage on its X account on July 24 and said 'we are actively implementing a solution.' The service mostly resumed after 2.5 hours, Mr Michael Nicolls, SpaceX vice-president of Starlink Engineering, wrote on X. By 8pm, the company wrote on X that the 'network issue has been resolved, and Starlink service has been restored.' 'The outage was due to failure of key internal software services that operate the core network,' Mr Nicolls said, apologising for the disruption and vowing to find its cause. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Singapore S'pore could have nuclear energy 'within a few years', if it decides on it: UN nuclear watchdog chief Life 'Do you kill children?': Even before independence, S'pore has always loved its over-the-top campaigns Singapore Lung damage, poor brain development, addiction: What vaping does to the body Singapore Tipsy Collective sues former directors, HR head; alleges $14m lost from misconduct, poor decisions Singapore Fine for couple whose catering companies owed $432,000 in salaries to 103 employees Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly Mr Musk also apologised: 'Sorry for the outage. SpaceX will remedy root cause to ensure it doesn't happen again,' the SpaceX chief executive officer wrote on X. The outage was a rare hiccup for SpaceX's most commercially sensitive business. Experts speculated whether the service, known for its resilience and speedy development, was beset by a glitch, a botched software update or perhaps a cyberattack. Mr Doug Madory, an expert at the internet analysis firm Kentik, said such a sweeping global outage was unusual. 'This is likely the longest outage ever for Starlink, at least while it became a major service provider,' Mr Madory said. As Starlink amasses more than six million users, SpaceX has focused in recent months on updating its network to accommodate demands for higher speed and bandwidth. The company, in a partnership with T-Mobile, is also expanding the constellation with larger, more powerful satellites to offer direct-to-cell text messaging services, a line of business in which mobile phone users can send emergency text messages through the network in rural areas. SpaceX has launched more than 8,000 Starlink satellites since 2020, building a uniquely distributed network in low-Earth orbit that has attracted intense demand from militaries, transportation industries and consumers in rural areas with poor access to traditional, fiber-based internet. 'I'd speculate this is a bad software update, not entirely dissimilar to the CrowdStrike mess with Windows last year, or a cyberattack,' said Dr Gregory Falco, director of a space and cybersecurity laboratory at Cornell University. An update to CrowdStrike's widely used cybersecurity software led to worldwide flight cancellations and impacted industries around the globe in July 2024. The outage disrupted internet services, affecting 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices. It was unclear whether the July 25 outage affected SpaceX's other satellite-based services that rely on the Starlink network. Starshield, the company's military satellite business unit, has billions of dollars' worth of contracts with the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies. Separately, Reuters reported on July 25 that Mr Musk ordered a partial shutdown of Starlink during a pivotal push by Ukraine to retake territory in its war with Russia in late September 2022. REUTERS

Brazil scrambles as U.S. tariff deadline looms, talks stall
Brazil scrambles as U.S. tariff deadline looms, talks stall

Straits Times

time3 hours ago

  • Straits Times

Brazil scrambles as U.S. tariff deadline looms, talks stall

Find out what's new on ST website and app. A 3D-printed miniature model of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Brazil flag and the word \"Tariffs\" are seen in this illustration taken July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration SAO PAULO - Brazil is scrambling to avert punishing 50% U.S. tariffs in a week's time, but high level talks are stalled and U.S. companies are reluctant to confront U.S. President Donald Trump over the issue, officials and industry leaders say. Trump linked the tariffs, which he has said would come into effect on Aug. 1, to Brazil's treatment of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is on trial over charges of plotting a coup to stop President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office. Lula has called the threatened duty "unacceptable blackmail." No new diplomatic talks have occurred since last month, and a Brazilian counter-proposal sent in May went unanswered, two diplomats with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Brazilian Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin told reporters on Thursday that he reiterated the country's willingness to negotiate in a Saturday discussion with U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick. The lack of communication has left Brazil with dwindling options as the deadline approaches. "If he wanted to talk, he would pick up the phone and call me," Lula said of Trump at an event on Thursday. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Singapore S'pore could have nuclear energy 'within a few years', if it decides on it: UN nuclear watchdog chief Asia Live: Thailand-Cambodia border clashes continue for second day Life 'Do you kill children?': Even before independence, S'pore has always loved its over-the-top campaigns Singapore Lung damage, poor brain development, addiction: What vaping does to the body Singapore Fine for couple whose catering companies owed $432,000 in salaries to 103 employees Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly Negotiations are complicated by U.S. concerns over the prosecution of Bolsonaro, a Trump ally, one diplomat said, calling it a major roadblock. Trump announced the proposed 50% tariffs on Brazil on July 9 despite a U.S. trade surplus with the country - lining it up for one of the world's very highest such levies, close to China's 55% rate. In a series of 18 meetings, Alckmin has urged representatives from U.S. firms including General Motors, John Deere and Alphabet Inc to press Washington on the issue. However, the companies are reluctant to confront Trump for fear of retaliation, according to a government official and Ricardo Alban, president of Brazil's main industry lobby, CNI. "Things are very tense," Alban told reporters on Thursday. Also on Thursday, a group of Democratic senators condemned the tariffs on Brazil as a "clear abuse of power" in a letter to Trump. The tariffs could have a severe economic impact. The CNI estimates over 100,000 Brazilian jobs could be lost, potentially trimming 0.2% from the country's gross domestic product. The country's powerful agribusiness lobby, CNA, projects the value of its U.S. exports could fall by half. Alban said the potential blow to exporters could be worse than the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that business leaders are asking the government for aid, suggesting new credit lines. In response, some companies are already adjusting their trade strategies. Motor maker WEG is considering a plan to use its plants in Mexico and India to supply the U.S., its chief financial officer told analysts. Meat exporter Naturafrig Alimentos has begun redirecting shipments to other countries, according to commercial director Fabrizzio Capuci. Other companies are turning to the courts. Orange juice producer Johanna Foods, for example, has sued the Trump administration over the proposed tariffs. Companies in sectors ranging from steel to chemicals are also facing export contract cancellations, according to one advisor who asked not to be named. Abiquim, an association that represents chemical companies in Brazil, confirmed cancellations due to the threat of tariffs, without naming the companies affected. A lobby group representing steel companies declined to comment. REUTERS

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store