Administrator of cat Facebook group charged with illegally selling kittens from his home
File photo of kittens. (Photo: Unsplash/The Lucky Neko)
SINGAPORE: The administrator of a Facebook group for cat lovers was charged in court on Wednesday (Oct 6) with using his flat as a pet shop to sell two kittens.
Derek Chew Keng Khoon, 45, is also accused of failing to take two kittens to the vet.
He faces three charges: Two of permitting unnecessary suffering to two kittens by failing to take them to the vet for treatment, and one of using his Punggol flat as a shop to sell two kittens between Jan 5, 2020 and Feb 29, 2020 when he did not have a licence.
Chew told the court that he is an administrator of a Facebook group called Maine Coon SG.
"There's always buyers and sellers coming to seek help to ask if there is anyone selling or buying cats," he explained.
"At the time, I happened to lose my job because I got a panic attack. This came just at the right time. I got S$200 commission per kitten from the guy, who came from GumTree," he said.
He said he sold a kitten to a man, and told him "maybe certain things are neglected".
He said he knew the kitten had rashes on its legs as he had seen it during litter training, but did not know it was "that serious".
He claimed the man later got a second kitten from him, so he assumed that "everything is okay".
Court papers did not disclose further information on the condition of the two kittens.
Chew will return to court in November.
If convicted of using his home as a pet shop without a valid licence, he can be fined up to S$5,000.
If found guilty of failing to take his kitten to a vet for treatment, thereby permitting unnecessary suffering to an animal, he can be jailed up to two years, fined up to S$40,000, or both.
