Frequently Asked Questions - Cat Abuse

What do I do when I see cats being abandoned?

Under the Animals and Birds Act, anyone who is found guilty of pet abandonment can be imprisoned for up to 12 months, fined up to $10,000, or both.See below for full description of the law.

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There are several reasons why new cats appear in your area. They are
1) Relocation because people do not want to see cats culled and release them in other areas instead.
2) Abandonment by residents of the area because they do not sterilise or they have moved away.

The result of both forms of abandonment is that the cat becomes disoriented and is subjected to territorial disputes with existing cats. For previously owned cats, they fare worse because they lack the necessary street survival skills, often refusing to eat and have an overwhelming fear of the environment.

The information required to prosecute a pet abandonment case is as follows
1) Proof of ownership
2) Proof of act of abandonment

There are currently certain complications to prosecuting under the law. Firstly, there is no licensing of cat ownership. Secondly, cats are banned in HDB flats. However, a recent case has shown that it is possible to proof ownership and subsequent abandonment even without licensing and cat ownership is banned.

If you have witnessed someone abandoning their pet cat, do not react in anger but try to find out their address by engaging them in conversation or tailing them. Knowing their address is the single most important piece of information that you can gather.

If you did not witness the abandonment but recognise a cat as belonging to a certain household, that is also a good place to start.

Contact the AVA as a witness to report this household with their address. If possible, arrange to visit the household with the investigating officers. It is even more effective if you bring the cat in question along with you. In this way, you make it impossible for the perpetrators to deny that they have been keeping this cat and abandoned it.

Neighbours can also help to testify that they have seen the cat living within the premises of the household in question.

Often when a cat is abandoned, it is too late for the cat, even if the owners are brought to justice. To prevent cat abandonment in your neighbourhood, work with your Town Council officers to warn and educate cat owners about their responsibility
1) To keep pet cats indoors and for life
2) To sterilise
3) To educate that pet abandonment is a crime

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Animal and Birds Act (Chapter 7)

Interpretation of this Part
41. In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires, “animal” includes any beast, bird, fish, reptile or insect, whether wild or tame.

Cruelty to animals
42. —(1) Any person who —

(a) cruelly beats, kicks, ill-treats, over-rides, over-drives, over-loads, tortures, infuriates or terrifies any animal;

(b) causes or procures or, being the owner, permits any animal to be so used;

(c) being in charge of any animal in confinement or in the course of transport from one place to another neglects to supply the animal with sufficient food and water;

(d) by wantonly or unreasonably doing or omitting to do any act, causes any unnecessary pain or suffering or, being the owner, permits any unnecessary pain or suffering to any animal;

(e) causes, procures or, being the owner, permits to be confined, conveyed, lifted or carried any animal in such a manner or position as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering;

(f) being the owner of any animal, abandons the animal without reasonable cause or excuse, whether permanently or not, in circumstances likely to cause the animal any unnecessary suffering or distress, or causes or permits the animal to be so abandoned;

(g) employs or causes or procures or, being the owner, permits to be employed in any work of labour, any animal which in consequence of any disease, infirmity, wound or sore, or otherwise is unfit to be so employed; or

(h) causes, procures or assists at the fighting or baiting of any animal, or keeps, uses, manages, or acts or assists in the management of any premises or place for the purpose, or partly for the purpose, of fighting or baiting any animal, or permits any premises or place to be so kept, managed or used, or receives or causes or procures any person to receive money for the admission of any person to the premises or place,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both; except where an owner is convicted of having permitted cruelty to an animal under subsection (2), he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an owner shall be deemed to have permitted cruelty to an animal, if he has failed to exercise reasonable care and supervision in respect of the animal.

(3) Nothing in this section applies to the commission or omission of any act in the course of the destruction, or the preparation for destruction of any animal as food, unless that destruction or preparation was accompanied by the infliction of unnecessary suffering.

I have just seen a cat which has been abused. What should I do?

Under the Animals and Birds Act, anyone who is found guilty of animal cruelty can be imprisoned for up to 12 months, fined up to $10,000, or both. See below for full description of the law.

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It is counterproductive to jump to the conclusion that a cat is abused everytime you see a dead or injured cat. It is one of the reasons why the authorities would not take such cases seriously. If you found a dead or injured animal and cannot determine with certainty that it has been abused, send it to the vet or SPCA for an examination or autopsy.

It is imperative that the eye-witness come forward to help in the investigation. If you are a witness of animal abuse or discovered an animal that is clearly abused:

1. Take photos of the perpetrator or take note of as much details of the abuse as you can e.g. exact location, mode of abuse.

2. If the animal is injured, SPCA can pick the animal up for diagnosis and treatment at their clinic. Alternatively, you can bring it to the vet immediately for medical treatment. While you are there, please tell the vet that you suspect that the animal has been abused and that you would like the vet to give you a written report.

3. If the animal is dead, don't touch it. Take photos first and make as many notes of the scene as possible. AVA or SPCA can do a necropsy. Alternatively, you can take the animal to the vet. The faster you get to a vet for a necropsy, the more details you get. In a tropical climate, decay sets in fast and it may soon be difficult to determine the cause of death.

4. Call the police, AVA and SPCA to report the animal abuse.
Police and authorised officers from the AVA have the duty to investigate and the power subsequently to arrest, enter and search any premises with reasonable cause. The SPCA conducts animal cruelty investigation as its core function and thus provides checks and balances to the authorities' investigations.

Only call the police at 999 when it is a bonafide emergency e.g. the culprit is still on the scene committing a crime.

In other circumstances, contact your Neighbourhood Police Centre. It is good practice to find out and save the number of your divisional HQ and/or NPC beforehand from http://www.spf.gov.sg/contactus/contactus_index.htm.
Other numbers to save are:
AVA: 6471 9987 / 6471 9996
SPCA: 62875355 ext 9

When you make a report, get a case number. Also ask which officer is going to be in charge so you can follow up with him or her. Bear in mind, only a witness can make the report - so if someone tells you that they saw a cat abused, only that someone can make the report. You cannot.

5. If the police refuses to handle an animal abuse case when you feel there is sufficient evidence
You may be told initially by inexperienced police officers that the police do not handle an animal abuse cases, only AVA. The police DO investigate and it says so in the Animals and Birds Act, specifically Section IV. The resources are available online. If an officer tells you that you cannot make a report, you may want to refer him or her to the legislation. You may also wish to escalate it to a superior officer - most of them are much better informed.

Police assistance and intervention is especially important when

i) Act of abuse is taking place at the point of reporting and time is of the essence in stopping the crime.

ii) Abuse is fresh and the abuser may not be far from the scene.

iii) The use of excessive violence against the animal e.g. mutilation, strangulation, sexual abuse. These are often not isolated acts of violence or have an underlying social cause such as drug abuse, mental instability, domestic violence. In such cases, it is imperative that the police be informed as increased patrolling and prompt action may directly impact general public safety.

iv) You discovered the abuse outside of AVA office hours.

6. Prepare your follow up information for the police and AVA.
Take a few minutes to sit down and write out a statement. Also compile any photos, vet report etc that you have. Don't jump to conclusions - just state what you saw/when it happened/what you did.

The reason it is a good idea to write your statement is that it's more efficient and you can avoid errors, either grammatical or factual.

7. Keep SPCA and CWS informed so that we can help to follow up with the police and AVA and create awareness about the case.

8. You strongly suspect that the death or injury of a cat is due to abuse but there is no eye-witness.
Follow the same procedures above in documenting the scene with photos and optaining a vet report or necropsy. Report the case to SPCA and CWS so that they have a record of the incident. This can help in building a case if the abuse persists.

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Animal and Birds Act (Chapter 7)

Interpretation of this Part
41. In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires, “animal” includes any beast, bird, fish, reptile or insect, whether wild or tame.

Cruelty to animals
42. —(1) Any person who —

(a) cruelly beats, kicks, ill-treats, over-rides, over-drives, over-loads, tortures, infuriates or terrifies any animal;

(b) causes or procures or, being the owner, permits any animal to be so used;

(c) being in charge of any animal in confinement or in the course of transport from one place to another neglects to supply the animal with sufficient food and water;

(d) by wantonly or unreasonably doing or omitting to do any act, causes any unnecessary pain or suffering or, being the owner, permits any unnecessary pain or suffering to any animal;

(e) causes, procures or, being the owner, permits to be confined, conveyed, lifted or carried any animal in such a manner or position as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering;

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an owner shall be deemed to have permitted cruelty to an animal, if he has failed to exercise reasonable care and supervision in respect of the animal.

How do I organise a citizen patrol to help catch cat abusers?

SPCA will provide flyers that seek "Reward for Information" for abuse cases that are confirmed by a vet or SPCA.

1. Ask your Town Council to put up the Reward for Information Notice on their notice boards.
As a resident, you are in the position to ask for assistance from the Town Council and Member of Parliament.

2. Seek information through a door-to-door appeal
The aim is to flyer the blocks around the location of the abuse with the "Reward for Information" flyer to ask for witnesses to step forward. Any information gathered during the appeal should be reported to the police and SPCA to help them in their investigation.

The best person to lead a door-to-door appeal is a resident of the area as you will have ground knowledge of the estate and the neighbours. Let us know when you have set a date for the door-to-door appeal and we will help you call for volunteers.

A petition for resident signatures can also be initiated for more frequent police patrolling and CCTVs to be installed.

3. Take the opportunity to educate residents
This is also a good time to educate the public about responsible pet ownership and kindness to community animals when you are engaging them through the door-to-door appeal.

4. You have sufficient information to organise a citizen patrol.
If you have an idea about the suspect and their mode of operation, organise a citizen patrol to catch the person in the act through photographic or video evidence. This should be done discreetly without alerting the suspect.

Always remember that suspects are innocent unless proven guilty.

Catching a cat abuser takes vigilance and putting the neighbourhood on high alert not only increases the chances of the abuser being caught but also reduces the chances of the abuser striking again for fear of being caught.

What do I do when I come across a questionable animal adoption/sale listing online?

It is illegal to sell animals without a license. If you have evidence that someone is breeding animals for sale in their home or on unlicensed premises, please alert the AVA at 6471 9987 / 6471 9996 or ava_cawc@ava.gov.sg.

If you are confident to do so, make contact via the phone or email provided by posing as a potential client. Do not reveal your agenda but ask pertinent questions that a buyer would legitimately ask and note down the responses.

1) Where did the animal come from?
2) Is the animal tested, sterilised or vaccinated?
3) What kind of care would the animal need if I adopt/buy it?
4) The price quoted seems expensive, why does the animal cost so much?
5) How do I pick it up? (The objective is to get more information about the person's location.)

If you are able to secure a meeting with the person, alert the Cat Welfare Society so that we can inform people in the area to assist.

When you have enough information about the seller, close the deal with money and goods exchanging hands, preferably recorded in photos or videos.

Cases are made or broken by the quality of information that is gathered. Keep your cool and do not reveal your agenda or you close the door on further investigations by alerting the suspect.

Most importantly, exercise caution at all times.