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Man fined S$2,000 for getting son to abandon pet cat when family moved to new home

SINGAPORE — A 58-year-old man was fined S$2,000 on Tuesday (Oct 4) for asking his son to release their family cat at the void deck of their Hougang block of flats before the family moved to a new home.

Anyone found guilty of abandoning an animal without reasonable cause or excuse under the Animal and Birds Act could have been jailed up to 12 months or fined up to S$10,000, or both.
Anyone found guilty of abandoning an animal without reasonable cause or excuse under the Animal and Birds Act could have been jailed up to 12 months or fined up to S$10,000, or both.
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SINGAPORE — A 58-year-old man was fined S$2,000 on Tuesday (Oct 4) for telling his son to release their family cat at the void deck of their Hougang block of flats before the family moved to a new home.

Chin Koh Sing was also disqualified from owning any animals for 12 months.

He pleaded guilty to a single charge of instigating his son to permanently abandon the grey tabby cat named Felix.

Chin’s daughter adopted the feline in 2018. She and her brother then took care of it, a district court heard.

When their family was set to move to a new residence in June last year, Chin decided that his children were unable to continue caring for the animal.

He did not want to take it to their new home either so he told his son to find a new home for the cat.

When the cat had not found a new owner on the day the family was to move, Chin told his son to release it at the void deck of Block 137 Lorong Ah Soo in the Hougang area.

A member of the public saw Chin’s son doing this and notified the National Parks Board (NParks).

A prosecutor from NParks asked for a fine of S$2,500 but District Judge Lorraine Ho imposed a lower sentence after considering that it was Chin’s first offence.

The cat also suffered no injuries and it was a one-off incident, the judge said.

In mitigation, Chin told the court through an interpreter that his daughter suffered from depression and tried to commit suicide.

His son then took over caring for the cat but could not do so all the time because he had to work late hours, he added.

“I personally don’t know how to keep or take care of a cat. We made attempts to rehome the cat but we were not successful in doing so as it was during Covid-19 and we faced difficulties in rehoming the cat.

“Nonetheless, I admit it was my mistake. I shouldn’t have asked my son to do this,” Chin said in asking for a light sentence.

For abandoning an animal without reasonable cause or excuse under the Animal and Birds Act, he could have been jailed up to 12 months or fined up to S$10,000, or both.

Related topics

court crime Animals and Birds Act Cat pet abandonment pets

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