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;
(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.
