SINGAPORE — Each Housing and Development Board (HDB) family could quickly be capable to come clean with two pet cats, whereas residents of personal premises can maintain a mix of as much as three cats or dogs underneath a proposed cat management framework introduced by the Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS) on Saturday (2 December).
The proposed framework, which goals to enhance the administration and welfare of cats, was developed following opinions from a public survey launched in September 2022 that garnered over 30,000 responses, and focus group discussions with stakeholders – together with cat homeowners and non-cat homeowners – in 2023.
AVS is presently searching for views on the proposed cat administration framework by way of an online survey.
Included within the proposed framework is a compulsory licensing and microchipping scheme to enhance the welfare and traceability of pet cats. Licensing situations embody requiring all new pet cat licence candidates to finish a free on-line accountable pet possession course.
A two-year transition interval was proposed to permit pet homeowners adequate time to fulfill the licensing situations, after which pet cat licensing situations and cat possession limits will kick in.
In addition, the framework additionally proposed a Trap-Neuter-Rehome/Release-Manage (TNRM) programme for group cats. Currently, the programme is just for free-roaming dogs.
The framework additionally included new training and outreach efforts on accountable pet cat possession and group cat caregiving.
Current guidelines on HDB cat possession
Currently, HDB residents usually are not allowed to personal pet cats, and offenders could also be fined as much as S$4,000 if discovered to have a pet cat of their flat underneath the HDB guidelines. However, it’s not actively enforced – motion is taken solely on homeowners whose pet cats trigger nuisance to the general public.
The public can now share suggestions on the proposed framework by means of a web based survey. The on-line survey will likely be open till 1 February 2024.
AVS added that it will assessment the suggestions acquired as soon as the survey has concluded and can additional refine the framework the place wanted earlier than launching the finalised framework within the later a part of 2024.
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