Cat placed at bin centre: Tampines Town Council apologises for ‘lapse in protocol’

SINGAPORE — Tampines Town Council has apologised for the way it handled a cat’s relocation after the animal was found caged up in a bin centre last week.

In response to TODAY’s queries, the town council acknowledged that there was a "lapse in the protocol" in its handling of the incident, which stemmed from a resident’s complaints.

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It had received "repeated feedback regarding cat defecation and urination outside a resident's unit", and the affected resident had sought help in resolving the issue.

The town council then instructed a "relatively new" staff member to "safely relocate" the cat.

This resulted in the animal being placed at a bin centre as a "temporary transit point”, the town council said, adding that it did not have any intention of causing harm to the cat.

The incident went viral after Facebook user Rachel YukiMizu, a volunteer from the Cat Welfare Society (CWS), posted about it last Thursday (Nov 14).

In her post, Ms Rachel said that two cleaners had been seen carrying a cat in a trap and placing it at the rubbish chute area. She said she heard meowing from the area and was afraid that the cat was in pain.

Ms Rachel attempted to call the Tampines Town Council but could not get through to the relevant department despite multiple attempts. Eventually, she called the police instead.

After the police arrived, Ms Rachel said they questioned the town council for "not following standard protocols regarding cat complaints". The police then requested that the cat be passed to a representative from CWS.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, CWS said that its mediators have previously worked with all 16 town councils as well as the National Parks Board to establish clear protocol on how to address cat-related feedback. However, the protocol was not followed in this case.

"We are working with the relevant authorities to address this lapse," said CWS.

Tampines Town Council said the incident was an isolated case.

"We have issued a warning to the staff and will continue to work closely with CWS to educate our staff on the proper management of cat-related issues," it added.