Wednesday, February 9, 2011

It is not just about animal hoarding …

by Neo Chai Chin

SINGAPORE - The family shut the doors and windows of their HDB flat for five years when neighbours complained to the authorities about them rearing cats in 2005.

Then last June, the younger son of the family was spotted abandoning a cat.

The Cat Welfare Society (CWS) was tipped off and subsequently discovered more than 30 cats in the four-room flat in Tampines.

Some were underfed and in poor condition and it was apparent to CWS volunteers that the family could ill-afford to care for the cats properly.

Keeping animals without the ability to care for them adequately - this distinguishes animal hoarders from animal lovers with multiple pets, say animal welfare groups here.

Cats - which are not allowed to be kept in HDB flats - appear to be the most commonly hoarded creatures. The CWS encounters about one case each month - and the Tampines family's case is the most complicated one so far, said its president Fareena Omar.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has encountered about 12 hoarding cases in the past two years, also of cats...." More

No comments: