CCTVs, knocking on doors: What else will it take to nab community cat abusers?

CNA

23-05-2025

In May 2023, the lifeless and bloodied body of a young tuxedo tabby cat named Tuxy was found at the open-air carpark next to a block of flats in Hougang.
The gruesome find shocked volunteer feeders in the area who immediately sprung into action to gather information to catch the abuser.
'We went door-to-door personally to visit each unit and requested video footage from those with a camera facing the corridors,' said Ms Jasmine Tan, 30, a cat feeder in the area.
Out of the footage they received was one video showing what is believed to be Tuxy thrown from heights. The group sent this in to the National Parks Board (NParks) but two years on have not heard back if the abuser was nabbed.
CNA TODAY has reached out to NParks to ask about the status of this case.
While waiting for closure from this case, more instances of abuse involving community cats have surfaced.
Just earlier this month, in an act described as "appalling cruelty" by Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, a community cat in Yishun called King Kong was found with severe injuries including its eyes gouged out and organs split.
Within days another cat called Shere Khan was found at a car park in Punggol with severe injuries and both eye globes protruded significantly from their sockets. It had to be subsequently euthanised.
While the Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS), which is the body under NParks which investigates such cases, said that Shere Khan's injuries were "likely" due to a vehicular accident, the Cat Welfare Society (CWS) said it stands by its statement that the "nature of his injuries points strongly to deliberate abuse" and it was 'one of the most brutal cases' it has encountered.
'Based on the information available to us, we do not believe this was a road traffic accident. We are concerned that the possibility of a non-accidental injury cannot be ruled out,' said the group's co-founder Nina Astolfi.
At the same time, some community cat abuses are being dealt with by the judicial system.
On Friday, a 20-year-old man pleaded guilty to performing an indecent act on a cat after being caught on a neighbour's closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera.
In February, a man was sentenced to 14 months' jail for abusing five cats in Ang Mo Kio, killing two of them by throwing them off public housing blocks between 2019 and 2021. The prosecution is appealing for a higher sentence.
That same month, another man was charged in court for allegedly killing a cat and abusing four others in Toa Payoh, in September and October 2024.
But such instances are cold comfort for animal lovers, as the number of abusers brought before the court of law – though increased through the years – is miniscule compared to hundreds of cats that die from alleged abuse.
NParks investigated an average of about 1,200 cases of alleged animal cruelty and welfare cases annually from 2017 to 2020, according to the Ministry of National Development in September 2021.
From 2017 to 2021, 40 persons have been sentenced in court and fined, and 23 persons have been sentenced in court and jailed.
In 2024, NParks received around 60 cases of alleged animal cruelty involving community cats specifically, it told CNA TODAY on Friday. Of these cases, evidence of animal cruelty were found for five of these cases upon investigation.
"In those cases, which were substantiated with evidence, enforcement action was taken against the offender, such as issuing a warning letter or a composition fine. For cases that were egregious in nature, offenders were prosecuted in court," NParks said.
This has led some volunteers to feel despondent, with some telling CNA TODAY that they no longer bother to report the death of community cats they encounter to authorities because more often than not it does not lead to the abuser being caught.
'We have been through so many cases ... Each time an exceedingly cruel case happens there is some media attention and then it proceeds to die down until the next abhorrent case happens,' said Ms Tan, Tuxy's feeder.