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SINGAPORE: What happens when an animal strays onto MRT tracks? The question has surfaced after a cat ended up in the underground North East Line (NEL) last Friday morning.
Commuter Risa Mardjuki was one of many at Dhoby Ghaut who witnessed an MRT station cleaner pursuing a ginger and white cat with a stick and a garbage bag.
After the animal fled to the end of the train platform, an SBS Transit employee opened the emergency door at the end of the platform – and the cat promptly leapt about 2 metres through a small opening just after the door, landing on the tracks as a train was approaching.
Five days on, nobody knows where the cat is, but NEL operator SBS Transit has conducted "several sweeps" of the tracks since the incident and found "no evidence that the cat had been hit by our trains", said vice-president of corporate communications Tammy Tan.
"We will continue to keep a lookout for the cat but we believe it has since escaped and is now safe."
The animal – a stray that lingers around the grass patch between Dhoby Ghaut station and Park Mall – had ventured into the station while Mr James Tan, a film-maker in his 50s who had been feeding it for a year, was carrying it outside in a pet carrier to take it to a vet to be sterilised. The cat jumped out after the carrier's latch sprang open.
The incident has got animal lovers up in arms over the treatment of the cat, and SBS Transit has apologised for the way procedures were not followed for such animal intrusions.
Train operators SMRT and SBS Transit said station staff should work with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) to remove animals from the tracks.
SMRT also works with the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority on animal intrusions in its MRT and LRT network, said a spokesperson. Train drivers aware of the situation will sound the horn to warn the animals, and whenever any track intrusion is reported, all trains at the affected station will be stopped immediately, she said.
She added that commuters should not attempt to retrieve animals on the tracks, as it is "extremely dangerous" and punishable by up to a S$5,000 fine.
SPCA executive officer Deirdre Moss said commuters who spot an animal on train platforms or tracks should alert the station managers immediately and then call the SPCA. "If an animal needs to be caught or trapped to save its life, it should be left to those trained to handle such situations," she said.
SBS Transit's Ms Tan said the company will fine-tune its procedures. "We will be seeking assistance from the SPCA, and our staff will be trained on the proper way to deal with such situations so that animal welfare is not compromised and our passengers' safety is assured," she said.
Both train operators said animal intrusions are rare. According to Ms Moss, SPCA has received about 10 calls in the last five years, mostly involving dogs.
- TODAY/so
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