Dozens of caged cats, caked in filth, removed from Yishun flat
Cats being transported away by the authorities on Feb 25, 2016. Photo: Diane Leow/Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE — Dozens of cats were removed from a unit at Block 207, Yishun Street 21 on Thursday (Feb 25). The animals were found housed in cages, many of which were caked with faeces.
The owner of the house, who arrived after the cats had been removed, told Channel NewsAsia that the cats were brought in by his 33-year-old daughter, and that he has had cats in his flat since 2000.
“I am against cat abuse,” said Mr Roslani Ahmad, 63, who is unemployed. “Who would abuse a cat? Clearly something wrong.”
He said the authorities arrived at his home at 8am, after receiving a complaint.
“People said my house is smelly. To me, I’m used to it,” he said. “Cats are lovely to me. Cats are lucky. The cats are inside the cage, and each month I buy three or four bags of cat food for them.”
Channel NewsAsia understands that residents living nearby had previously contacted authorities to complain about the stench, and that there were at least 30 cats kept in cages.
When Channel NewsAsia arrived at the scene before noon on Thursday, three empty cages were seen on the ground floor. There was a strong stench in the air as the cages were caked in faeces, with dozens of cockroaches crawling around them.
A spokesperson for the Cat Welfare Society (CWS) said they believe this is a case of hoarding and not a case of abuse, but will let investigations run their due course.
CWS added that they had assisted this family in 2010 by sterilising some cats and "the situation was nowhere near what was discovered". But Mr Roslani later disputed this, telling Channel NewsAsia that no one had offered any such assistance.
The society said that they were alerted to this incident after HDB had received complaints from residents about the stench, but added that they were unaware that the cats would be evacuated today.
"Now our concern is if any of the cats can be saved," CWS said.
This is the latest cat-related incident in Yishun. Since September, more than 20 cases of alleged cat abuse have been reported in the area.
At 1pm on Thursday, a few cleaners arrived at Mr Roslani’s home and began to clean the home with disinfectant. Some cockroaches could still be seen skittering across the floor of the HDB flat.
Mr Roslani said he was unlikely to keep more cats after this. But he added: “I want one cat back. The cat is all white, with one blue eye and one yellow eye.” CHANNEL NEWSASIA
