Excuse me while my horse kicks you repeatedly in the face.

I've read something quite unbelievable today. There's been an article in today's newspaper - "Diners at two restaurants near the Bukit Timah Saddle Club who feed the race horses have been told to stop the habit". At the end of the article, was the following:

One couple who were spotted touching the horses and taking photographs of them said they did not notice the signs.

Mr Siew Jian Ming, 25, a production manager, said: "We thought that it is open to the public. Anyway, I think we should be allowed in as we hardly get to see horses in Singapore. Horses should not be confined only to the rich who can maintain them," he said.

Mr Siew seems to think that being unable to afford a horse himself grants him liberties to molest other peoples' race horses. His statement is offensive because there are laws which are at odds with his very peculiar and selfish statement. These very same laws protect us from being robbed on the streets in broad daylight, and breaking these laws make us felons, regardless of how poor we perceive ourselves to be.

The owners themselves have very good reasons for not wanting unwelcome visitors in the stables. Visitors have been known to feed the horses inappropriate food, which in minor cases could result in slight discomfort to the horse (and this can affect the performance of a racehorse); in serious cases, a horse could become colicky, which could be fatal.

The owners are also afraid because they know some visitors have not been very considerate and are afraid of the consequences should their horses one day snap and give some silly visitor a well-aimed kick.

The fact is, there are just too many people who have not the faintest idea that they are provoking an animal, and they tend to react badly after having being bitten, scratched, or kicked by a thoroughly harassed animal.

I've met a boy at SPCA who insisted on continuing to imitate one of our dogs when it was snarling at him, and he thought it was great fun to press his face against the door of the cage when doing so. After spending what seemed like a very long time watching him and his father, who stood behind, chuckling at his boy's antics, I couldn't stand it any longer and tried to point out as mildly as possible, that he was provoking the dog and that could result in him being bitten. It was only then did the father realise that he should be telling his son to stop too. But seriously, parents, please stop your kids, because I think it is most rude of me to think that I have to instruct you as to how best to be a parent.

Another time, I left a family of 4 in the cattery and went to pat some of the dogs. I found myself being followed to the sink when I went to wash my hands by the father of the family, who was in a bit of a panic because a cat had scratched him.

Yes, there probably has been cases of people having bad reactions to cat scratches. Yes, you probably should wash and scrub the scratch well with soap and water. No, I hope you aren't one of the few unfortunate individuals who need medical attention for a cat scratch. Don't worry, I've got scratched twice before myself. Cats are like this, they tend to get a bit irritated after you lavish them with too much attention and get tetchy.

The father left me then, somewhat mollified that he might not die today after all, and that was when doubt crept into my heart and I wondered - what were you doing to the cat anyway? Because seriously, I can't trust any of you to be alone with the animals. I don't know what type of person you are, yet.