AVA Road Show '06 -- Part 2

Before I launch into the continuation of the AVA Road Show, here's a quick update on two very magnetic cats -- one-eyed Jack and three-legged Brook.

Jack the winking

Brook the brave

Even though I haven't written very much about them, they have stolen many a heart. Questions from many concerned readers have been flooding in, asking if Jack and Brook have been adopted out... if yes, are they happy... are their adopters good and loving... etc etc etc.

Unfortunately, I am unable to give any firm updates on Jack and Brook. Why? Because both fosters aren't as forthcoming with answers as we would like them to be. Different fosters work differently. Some are very cooperative and easy to work with. Others need a lot of... er... space and distance. In the case of Jack and Brook, their fosters are somewhat resistant to being probed, however gently, with questions.

All I know of Jack is this... that he has been adopted out. I don't know who he has been given to. I don't know if the adopters are responsible owners. I don't know if the home is safe and secure for Jack. I don't know how Jack is coping in the new environment or if the family has had any trouble caring for Jack. I can only hope that the foster has looked into all this thoroughly and that Jack is very comfortable where he is.

What about Brook?

At the AVA Road Show, there was a nice gentleman who came round to our booth once to study our posters. A while later, he came back again to study them some more. I approached him and asked if he was interested in adopting a cat. He explained that he had adopted a 3-legged cat named Sam from CWS before. He feels that Sam is growing increasingly lonely. He is now just starting to think about taking in a companion for Sam... another 3-legged cat to keep Sam company.

He didn't want to commit to an answer there and then. So I gave him CWS' contact details and told him that any time he was ready, we would be most happy to put him in touch with Brook's foster.

That is all for now. If I somehow learn anymore about Brook... if that gentlemen did return for him, I will surely let all of you know.

Okay... to continue with the AVA Road Show...

The weather turned suddenly and the rain fell heavily.

Huge rain drops smacking furiously against the plastic sheets

Plastic sheets had to be lowered to keep the rain out, but it also kept the heat in which went quickly from comfortable to stifling. The fans blowing overhead were not quite enough to keep the air cool and ventilated.

Look at how the water has pooled. It looked like a mini flood

The animals were beginning to feel the heat too. Just look at them!

"The heat is getting me down... down... down..."

"I'm the only smart one. I toughed it out by sleeping it off!"

After about 3 of the hottest, sweatiest hours, the rain stopped and everyone heaved a collective sigh of relief. The people grew chatty, the animals grew playful and the atmosphere became very lively.

A pair of handsome long-haired Daschunds

Is that an Ewok?!

And this grogeous lady here is called Gypsy

A very well-trained dog, Gypsy looks attentively at her Mommy for her next command

"I'm all ears, Mommy!"

Who IS that NBA star?

It's Magic the Mini Schnauzer!

The talents of the obedience show wait patiently for their call to the stage

"And it's show time!"

To be continued...

~5-Cat Style

Long overdue post on the AVA Road Show '06 -- Part 1

This is the first night I am home early after two long gruelling weeks at work. Finally... I can blog!

I know this post about the AVA Road Show is two weeks overdue. But I have stories to tell and photos to share. And here they are...

The theme this year is "Don't Get Pets On Impulse".

And I do believe that the message sunk in for at least one family.

There was a little boy near our booth who had fallen in love with a puppy. I could hear him bugging his Dad loudly for the lovely little pup. "Daddy, I want! Daddy, I want! Daddy, I want!" he chanted. And this went on and on for a good two minutes.

Finally, his Dad turned to him and said, "Boy, look over there at that poster." And the boy did just that. "Now," said the father, "Read to me what it says." The boy squinted his eyes and read out loud, "Do... not... get... a... pet... on... im... pulse."

"Thank you," said the Dad. And that was the end of it.

Here are some very lovely artwork from talented kids, spreading the same message.

This beautiful pop-up rabbit one won the Merit prize

And this one won Best Entry

But it was this piece that made me chuckle

And now, to show you the Cat Welfare Society's booth.

As always, we have the poster stand filled with posters on all sides. In fact, we had so many posters to put up that we had to stick some on the back panel of our booth.

CWS' Director of Operations (the tall lady dressed all in black) speaking to some concerned cat feeders

The merchandise booth

This is the mini poster stand taking its place beside the CWS brochures and greeting cards

Some of you may recognise the lady in the polka-dotted dress. She is Deirdre Moss, the Executive Officer of the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)

Directly opposite our booth was ASD's (Action for Singapore Dog) booth.

Look at the left-hand side of the picture. What are those people looking so hard at?

Why! These cuties of course. And they are all up adoption.

A very smart looking pup

Two cuties who stole everybody's hearts!

Awww... even the older dog was compelled to give him a loving lick

This puppy, with the softest fur, got adopted as soon as the road show opened

Hey, sweetie, why so sad?

Rabbits were also present at the road show. The HRSS (House Rabbit Society of Singapore) had some beauties to show to the public.

Here HRSS shows us how to set up a proper live-in space for the rabbits

A pretty snow-white rabbit with ruby eyes

A hungry brown bunny helps himself to the greens

Howdy neighbour!

They may look alike, but they're not quite the same. How can you tell?

From the eyes! Unlike the black-eyed white rabbits, the red-eyed ones are albino

To be continued...

~5-Cat Style

This one's not a ginger... really!

Once again, I'm back home from the office far too late. I soooo want to blog about the weekend's adoption drive, but I'm all tired out tonight.

So what I'll do with the wavering strength I have left in my fingertips is to show you a very special cat I met on Saturday at the AVA road show. I'm sure some of you would remember this little fella!

For those of you who don't, you can read about him here and here. His story was, in fact, reported in the newspapers.

This is the friendly stray who fell victim to a seriously bored person. That person decided to dye the poor cat orange.

After doing that, that person proceeded to dump the poor frightened cat in a canal. Thankfully the cat was found and rescued.

The lady carrying him in the photographs told me that the orange dye has faded a lot since the rescue. It used to be a much brighter shade. But with the shedding of his fur, the colour has lost much of its intensity.

This cat is a very calm, friendly and curious cat. So I'm not at all surprised that he fell prey to such a prank. Sadly, it is the friendly cats who are the first to fall victim to the nasty people.

Right now, he is recovering well with his caregiver. She wants to fatten him a bit because he is quite scrawny at the moment.

Here's my short video of this sweetie.

~5-Cat Style