Singapore Man Jailed for Abandoning 71 Cats in Apartment
A Singapore man was sentenced to 16 weeks in jail after abandoning 71 cats in a Bukit Panjang apartment for nearly two years, resulting in nine deaths and severe malnutrition for survivors found in filthy conditions.
A 37-year-old Singapore man has been sentenced to 16 weeks in jail after abandoning 71 cats in an apartment for nearly two years, resulting in the deaths of nine felines.
The incident occurred at a flat in the Bukit Panjang area. Muhammad Khairul Naim Zainol and his ex-wife began keeping cats starting in 2019, but the cats were not neutered and bred rapidly. Although the couple attempted to find new homes for the animals, the population continued to grow. In April 2022, they moved out to live with his parents' place and left the cats confined in the apartment, abandoning them for approximately 22 months without any care or visits.
On February 20, 2024, officers from Singapore's Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) inspected the flat after receiving a report of emaciated cats near an air-conditioning unit. Inside, they found 61 surviving cats, most severely malnourished with severe dehydration and fur loss, along with the remains of several dead cats. The apartment was in deplorable sanitary conditions, filled with feces, filth, animal carcasses, cockroaches, and flies.
The court sentenced him to 16 weeks imprisonment and imposed a 12-month ban on animal ownership. He pleaded guilty to 24 counts of causing unnecessary suffering to animals, with an additional 47 counts taken into consideration during sentencing.
