The Cat Welfare Society is a charity, run almost entirely by volunteers, whose aim is to improve the welfare of stray cats in Singapore. All stray cats deserve our compassion and protection, and we believe that there are humane, effective ways to control their population -- that is, through sterilisation instead of destruction.

How we started

In July 1999, a newspaper published a report about 5 kittens being burned alive in a box. Outraged by this and other senseless acts of cruelty towards innocent animals occurring in Singapore everyday, a few friends got together and decided to help other harmless stray cats and kittens that live amongst us. This was how the Cat Welfare Society began. We felt that having a Society would give us a more effective and stronger voice for the cats who have the right to be represented accurately and humanely, and the right to be free of pain, fear and suffering.

The Cat Welfare Society was officially approved and registered on 23 October 1999. It was registered as a charity in June 2004.

Our Mission

"To Save Lives through Sterilisation"

We realise that the only way to help alleviate suffering and to stop so many cats being killed is to go to the root cause of the problem -- which is that of too many cats being born. In order to do this, we believe firmly in the need to focus on sterilisation.

To put it simply, the fewer cats born, the fewer cats suffer and die.

While we appreciate the work that people put into looking after cats in shelters, shelters are very expensive and time-consuming to run. In well-run shelters, the cats do have a good life, but only a tiny portion of the community cat population can go into a shelter. The rest are still out on the streets breeding and being killed.

We feel that if money and resources are channeled towards stopping the breeding by sterilisation, that there will be fewer cats in better health, fewer complaints and annoyances, and a better living environment for all -- whether or not you like cats.

To that end, we believe that by working with volunteers, town councils and management committees, we will be able to bring down the community cat population in an effective, humane way that works, which is through Sterilisation!