SINGAPORE – Cat ownership might lastly be allowed HDB flats however securing public health, like avoiding the spread of rabies through cats, should likewise be dealt with.
Senior Minister of State for National Development Tan Kiat How said this on Saturday at the Pets’ Day Out occasion at East Coast Park’s Parkland Green.
He existed to fulfill family pet owners and likewise to reveal findings from a recent public study performed by the Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS).
While it revealed near to 90 percent of over 30,000 reactions felt cats appropriated to be kept as family pets, some participants were dissatisfied cats were likewise accountable for soiling their estates.
Conducted in between September and November 2022, many participants supported enabling cats to be kept as family pets in HDB flats.
AVS did not reveal this figure, stating it wants to engage the neighborhood through a series of focus group conversations beginning in June.
This will last numerous months, including cat owners, non-cat owners, neighborhood cat caretakers, HDB, and agents of animal well-being groups.
The focus group conversations will consist of subjects like the possible effect of the proposed intend on family pet cats and their owners, and neighborhood cats and their caretakers.
The restriction on cats in HDB flats has actually been in force given that Singaporeans moved into the very first such flats in 1960, as part of a blanket restriction on all animals, animals and poultry.
The cat restriction withstands today, in spite of a relaxation of the guidelines on dog and little animal ownership. There were issues that cats, when permitted to wander indiscriminately, tend to shed fur and defecate or urinate in public locations. They likewise make caterwauling noises, which can hassle others.
However, the restriction is not actively imposed, as HDB just acts versus errant house owners whose cats are a public annoyance.
AVS had actually said in September 2022 it will deal with HDB to check out the possibility of enabling cats to be kept as family pets in flats, taking into account the feedback received.
Mr Tan said AVS is checking out methods to enhance the management of family pet and neighborhood cats. It is worried about family pet cats being abandoned by reckless owners, and abuses of neighborhood cats.
