SINGAPORE — A proposed cat administration framework was introduced by the Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) on Saturday (2 December), within the first steps to elevate a 34-year ban on cat possession in public flats in Singapore. Starting within the later a part of subsequent yr, two cats could also be allowed for every HDB flat, and three cats for a non-public residence.
As reported by The Straits Times, pet cats will should be microchipped and licensed to enhance their welfare and traceability.
To encourage cat house owners to fulfill licensing situations, they’ll get the licences at no cost inside a transitional interval of two years. From subsequent yr, AVS will likely be offering free sterilisation and microchipping for pet cats belonging to low-income households, resembling these dwelling in public rental housing. All new licence candidates can even be required to finish a free on-line accountable pet possession course.
Once the framework is in impact, will probably be unlawful to not license pet cats. Cat house owners will likely be subjected to penalties just like canine house owners below laws.
HDB residents haven’t been allowed to personal pet cats since 1989, and offenders could also be fined as much as $4,000. However, actions are sometimes taken in opposition to them provided that there are complaints of their cats inflicting a nuisance.
The Cat Welfare Society (CWS) has formally entrenched its Pet Cat Sterilisation Programme in November 2020, the place free sterilisation and microchipping of pets cats is available for financially distressed households. As of date, over 200 pet cats are sterilised per 30 days on common.
What authorized cat possession in HDBs may do for cats and society
Animal welfare teams which Yahoo Southeast Asia spoke to welcomed the proposed framework. Aarthi Sankar, govt director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), mentioned that the microchipping and licensing requirement is “an essential step” that would assist deter cat abandonment circumstances and improve proprietor accountability.
She added that the SPCA welcomes the proposal, because it has lengthy advocated for cat possession in HDB flats, and for extra formal laws.
“Successful implementation of the proposal hinges on neighbourliness and neighborhood effort. When cat house owners respect the rules and their neighbours, this can positively affect their cats’ well-being and neighborhood concord,” she mentioned.
CWS’ president Thenuga Vijakumar additionally believes that the legalisation of cat possession may have an “total constructive affect” on cat welfare, which can translate to lowered stress on public officers and the authorities within the subsequent three to 5 years.
Meanwhile, Christine Bernadette, co-founder of animal welfare group Causes for Animals, mentioned the proposed change is “undoubtedly a step in the correct path”, permitting extra alternatives for cats in must discover a home.
On the opposite hand, Kerstin Schulze from cat welfare non-profit basis Project LUNI mentioned that with the brand new framework comes new duty, in addition to laws that should be enforced. “This might be the actual problem,” she mentioned.
The new framework additionally proposed an extension of the AVS-funded Trap-Neuter-Rehome/Release-Manage (TNRM) programme, a programme that’s at present available just for free-roaming dogs, to neighborhood cats. Schulze sees this proposed transfer “making the largest distinction” in serving to to regulate the stray cat inhabitants, one thing executed primarily by animal welfare teams to this point.
While two years is a “comparatively lengthy transition time”, Schulze hopes it doesn’t result in extra cats by accident multiplying in houses.
Cat house owners’ shock and issues
Cat house owners additionally welcomed the transfer, with some feeling that the framework ought to have been in place a very long time in the past.
Marcus Leong, 26, a cat proprietor who lives in a flat, believes that the transfer may encourage extra cat adoptions. “I used to be fairly stunned that we have not already legalised it, particularly since we enable dogs in HDB flats. This is one thing that I’ve at all times felt very perplexed by, as a result of cats are a lot smaller and simpler to handle than dogs,” he mentioned.
He nonetheless cautions on the potential of extra abuse circumstances, since neighborhood cats might be introduced home with no means of monitoring what their house owners do behind closed doorways.
“As a pet proprietor, I’d undoubtedly encourage pet house owners to coach their pets correctly in order that they do not trouble others – particularly within the wee hours,” Leong mentioned.
Another HDB cat proprietor, Lea France, was additionally “pleasantly stunned” by the information. The 27-year-old believes the transfer would make monitoring misplaced and deserted cats a lot simpler, and hopes the obligatory microchipping and licensing will imply fewer “impulse pet consumers”. She additionally hopes the proposed regulation can result in new adjustments resembling extra cat services or cat-specific groomers.
Potential misinterpretation of proposed variety of cats
According to knowledge from surveys by CWS prior to now two years, most cat house owners have between one to 3 cats. As such, it’s “unclear” over the idea for limiting cat possession to 2 in HDB flats, with Vijakumar saying, “The extra logical start line would have been three cats.”
CWS can also be involved that there might be potential misunderstanding over the proposed threshold, of which irresponsible cat house owners might abandon or recklessly give their cats away.
“That is solely the other impact of what this lifting is meant to attain. There should be clear, constant and direct communication to cat house owners to clarify the two-year transition interval, and help supplied to them on easy methods to turn out to be accountable cat house owners,” Vijakumar mentioned.
“We imagine that clear laws, backed with penalties for non-compliance, will drive and improve the welfare of our Singapore cats.”
CWS’ concern was additionally echoed by the SPCA, which mentioned that house owners who exceed the cat restrict could also be unaware they’re lined by a clause, which permits them to maintain and license all their present cats throughout the grace interval. This will likely be subjected to AVS approval.
Call for mandated sterilisation and different situations
SPCA and CWS additionally urged the authorities to contemplate mandating sterilisation for all pet cats to forestall unintended breeding.
To guarantee accountable cat possession in HDB flats, the SPCA believes it’s important to maneuver in the direction of mandating:
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Meshing of home windows and gates to forestall cats from falling sufferer to High Rise Syndrome (injurious or deadly falls from peak),
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Cats be stored strictly indoors and never be allowed to free-roam outdoor, the place they may get into accidents or trigger inconveniences to the neighborhood,
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Sterilisation to forestall undesirable litters and cut back caterwauling.
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