Over 100 Community Cats Will be Homeless After Singapore Turf Club Closes

With the recent furore over the Singapore Turf Club’s impending closure next year, many people have expressed their concerns about the fate of the horses and the livelihoods of those who work in the local horse racing industry.

A new concern has emerged regarding the community cats who call the Singapore Turf Club their home.

There are reportedly over 100 community cats who need a new home come October 2024.

Here is what the cat situation is like over there.

Over 100 Community Cats Living at Singapore Turf Club

Earlier this week, Ms Jerlyn Seow spoke to Yahoo Southeast Asia to share about the cats that live and roam in the Singapore Turf Club.

Ms Seow is the only female apprentice jockey at the club.

According to Ms Seow, the 124-hectare space sees cats roaming freely in the stables, with some stables having “20 over cats”.

Other stables have one or more cats, but seeing five or six cats in a single stable is not uncommon.

These cats usually roam around the stables but avoid close interaction with the horses, who are much larger and may injure the cats.

Some cats are so well-loved that they have names. Amongst them are the cats Jackie and Tiger.

Here’s a photo of the cute community cats that roam the Singapore Turf Club.

Once the Singapore Turf Club closes for good, these community cats will no longer have a place to call home.

Turf Club Staff Members Take Care of the Cats

While no one officially adopted these cats, the staff members at the Singapore Turf Club have taken it upon themselves to take care of the cats.

Ms Seow reveals that they “feed the cats when [they] go to work at around 5 or 6 am and after work at around 4 pm in the afternoon”.

The cats are generally fed kibble and canned food, though they hunt for rats and pigeons independently.

There could be up to 100 staff members who feed and interact with the cats on a daily basis, Ms Seow says. These include horse trainers, riders, stable superiors and stable groomers.

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Unfortunately, the staff members are still coming to terms with their impending retrenchment and cannot commit to adopting the cats as of now.

Can These Cats Be Adopted Into HDB Flats?

While many of us may want to adopt these cute and cuddly cats, it is no mean feat, given HDB’s current restrictions on owning cats in HDB flats. The ban on having cats in HDB flats has been in place since 1960.

Nonetheless, there may be good news as there have been initiatives to review the cat ban.

A survey by the Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) between September and November 2022 revealed that close to 90 per cent of 30,000 respondents felt it was high time to remove the ban on cats in HDB flats.

These results were shared by the Senior Minister of State for National Development, Tan Kiat How, at a Pets’ Day Out event at East Coast Park’s Parkland Green.

We’re sure looking forward to the ban being lifted shortly.

In the meantime, you may want to watch this video to get up to speed on the situation revolving around cats in HDB flats.