Rise in cat abandonments amid confusion over rules

SPCA calls for more to be done to get owners aware of 2-year grace period

- Ian Cheng

Every year, independent cat rescuer Michelle Shoo keeps track of the felines she takes in by naming them according to letters of the alphabet.

It is only August, but the 35year-old talent development manager has already run through A to Z once, landing on I again. This marks her 35th case for 2024.

"There's been a surge in abandonments as it seems like people have misunderstood the laws, (thinking) that they can keep only two cats," said Ms Shoo, who receives requests every week from those wishing to offload their cats.

Ms Shoo and other rescuers like her - attests that the number of alleged abandonment cases they handle has surged since the announcements about the Cat Management Framework in December 2023 and May 2024.

"I think what people need to know is that they can keep all their cats if the cats are licensed," Ms Shoo said.

This is echoed by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), which called on the authorities to do more to tell pet owners about the flexibility of the two-year grace period that the Cat Management Framework affords them. This will deter owners from abandoning their additional cats.

Come Sept 1, pet owners can legally keep up to two cats in an HDB flat and up to three cats for each private residence.

They will be given two years to meet licensing and microchipping requirements, which will help the authorities to better trace pet cats, respond to disease outbreaks, and "hold irresponsible cat owners to greater account if they abandon, neglect or abuse their cats".

Those with more cats than permitted can keep all their existing pet cats if they license them within the transition period.

Animal welfare group Causes for Animals estimates that it now sees one case of abandonment a week, up from one case every two weeks in 2023. Singapore Cat Feeders shared similar numbers, with one case a week compared with once a month previously.