Hello everyone! I am Rachel Ong, freshmen embarking on Bachelor of Environmental Studies (BES) at the National University of Singapore (NUS). I am stuck in love with animals & the natural environment, the 2 most fragile things in the world to me. My feelings of Biophilia – A love for the natural world, was fuelled by the exploration of nature reserves in Singapore and documentaries on National Geographic.
One of my baby steps in trying to “save the animals” was joining an emergency animal hospital as a veterinary nurse. It is an emotional job where I felt like walking on a thin line of life and death. Nevertheless, I had a sense of fulfilment in lessening the pain of animals and enjoyed the job. However, there’s this hidden calling in me that I’m not ‘’saving the animals” enough, specifically, the efforts I make are not impactful enough to help a larger number and species of animals. Well, this explains why I embarked BES in NUS!
My young mind was filled with stories of my father’s childhood “Kampong Village” in Singapore where his family had a farm with domestic animals like chickens, pigs, and ducks. He shares his memories of him sleeping with the ducks and helping mother pigs deliver piglets, meanwhile I would be in envy of those experiences. He shared his friendship with the village dogs which guarded the village and they were always fed by the whole village. He shared his sadness on how some days, the village dogs ventured into the forest and never came back…
What do you think happened to the village dogs?
For me, it triggered a sense of loss and made me wonder – “Where did the dogs go?”, “Are they lost?” and “Can they survive out there?”. I started questioning the domestication of animals, on how it impacted the lives of the animals and eventually discovered the impacts of the stray dogs and cats, termed as “free-ranging domesticated animals (FRDA)” on the environment – “Oops my father may have contributed to this environmental impact?’’ came to my mind.
Upon reading the news about the Australia government target of culling 2million feral cats by 2020 [1], I naturally got upset over it but managed to find answers to give me closure to these negative feelings.
Join me on my journey in discovering the impacts of FRDA on the environment, with a focus on other parts of the world. As someone who loves domesticated animals, wildlife, and nature (I always get scolded for being a hypocrite for loving these), I will be sharing my experiences in adjusting my emotions in response to the culling of animals. I will highlight the need for wildlife conservation methods to be reconsidered in the face of urban expansion. Finally, I will discuss the management of FRDA and the possibility of applying compassionate conservation to FRDA.
Food for thought by the end of the blog: Are the environmental impacts by FRDA accelerated by anthropogenic factors (e.g urbanisation)?
References:
[1] Australia is deadly serious about killing millions of cats (2019, April 25). The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/magazine/australia-cat-killing.html