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Minister of State: Cat Ownership Might be Allowed in HDB Flats

2023-05-07 , 8:12 am

Cat owners, rejoice! There’s hope that you can finally stop hiding your cat from your neighbour like it’s a fugitive.

Cat ownership may soon be allowed in HDB flats, according to the Senior Minister of State for National Development Tan Kiat How. And this sentiment was shared in a survey by nearly 90% of Singaporeans.

Cat Ownership Might Be Allowed in HDB After Survey Revealed 90% of Singaporeans Are Supportive

Last year, the Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) conducted a survey for Singaporeans to share their views on cat welfare and the management of Singapore’s catto population.

Suffice it to say, the voices of the people are powerful—nearly 90% of more than 30,000 Singaporeans participating in the survey shared the sentiment that cats were suitable to be kept as pets.

This was revealed by Tan Kian How at a Pets’ Day Out event, who added that given these results, prospects of cat ownership being allowed in HDB flats now appear brighter.

According to Ms Thenuga Vijakumar, president of the Cat Welfare Society (CWS), surveys conducted by CWS in the past two years also reflected that more than 90 per cent of Singaporeans share such sentiments.

To the other 10% who felt cats weren’t suitable to be kept as pets, we apologise on behalf of Goody Feed’s blue cat for ever offending you. Please forgive him for his occasional lousy pronunciation.

There… Now it’s 100%. Can we have cat ownership in HDB now?

We’re kidding—if things were this straightforward, Singapore’s cat ban wouldn’t have lasted more than six decades until today.

While we’d love to have these adorable animals in our homes (legally), there remain concerns about these animals kacau-ing our neighbours, alongside more severe public health concerns.

Potential Inconvenience Caused To Other Residents if Cat Ownership Allowed in HDBs

A key concern many raise when it comes to cat ownership in HDBs is the inconvenience it may cause other residents.

You don’t want your neighbour’s cat roaming around your corridors wailing while you’re on a Zoom call, shedding fur in your Air Jordans or whatever else you Gen Zs are wearing nowadays, and urinating in your plants now, do you?

Small animals like hamsters or fish don’t do that, so they’re allowed in HDBs. Cats might; that’s why there are doubts about whether cats should be allowed in HDBs.

Another prominent issue shadowing such a concern is that of cat abandonment. If cat ownership is allowed and owners recklessly abandon their cats, these cats may continue roaming around the neighbourhood and causing trouble for other residents.

Worse, it’s also possible that these abandoned cats roaming around the HDBs may wind up being abused, creating even more problems.

Public Safety: Another Area of Concern for Cat Ownership in HDBs

Beyond concerns of inconvenience, abandonment and abuse, another stumbling block in allowing cat ownership in HDBs is a much broader one of public health.

Remember when you were a child, and your mother always warned you against petting stray animals, or you’ll go siao?

No? Just me? Oh no…

It turns out that’s a valid concern. Mr Tan shared that while Singapore has been rabies-free for 70 years, we should continue to err on the side of caution given that our neighbouring countries are not rabies-free yet.

For one, there is still an ongoing rabies outbreak in Sarawak, Malaysia.

If what it takes to get cat ownership in HDBs is to lock down the borders between Singapore and Malaysia again, so be it. We don’t need that Causeway bridge, Singapore’s food is better anyway (we’re kidding).

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Even if cat ownership in HDBs is allowed, we must be cautious to keep such infectious diseases, transmitted from cats or other animals to humans, at bay.

Much like how we traced close contact cases during COVID-19, Mr Tan emphasised that if a pet is diagnosed with an infectious disease like rabies, “we need to be able to swiftly trace to pet’s close contacts to prevent the spread of the disease”. This is especially so when the disease can be transmitted to humans.

Enforcing Standards of Cat Ownership: Microchipping and Licensing

The problem doesn’t end here.

If we are to allow our feline friends in HDBs, there should also be a reasonable standard expected of cat owners.

In the same way, dog owners must have their furry friends licensed; cat owners should also be expected to get their cats licensed.

Over 80% of Singaporeans in the AVS survey agreed that cat owners should be expected to microchip and license their cats. This is to ensure these cats can be traced.

Don’t know what it means to “microchip” and “license” your cat?

Well, this is why most Singaporeans also believe that first-time dog and cat owners should attend a compulsory course teaching them how to care for their pets.

A “Pet Care For Dummies” course, if you will.

Managing the Community Cat Population: The TNRM Programme

Many Singaporeans love their community cats. Or should I say, many often exploit them for content so their crush will reply to their Instagram stories.

(To AVS, SPCA, or MOM, we swear Goody Feed’s blue cat is on the payroll and not being exploited to make our content…)

Yet, some remain doubtful about community cats, raising concerns about whether these cats are sterilised. Further, I’m sure we’ve all come across plates of cat food lying around in the void deck that hasn’t been cleared in days—not a pleasant sight.

To tackle such problems regarding the community cat population, the AVS will build on the current stray cat sterilisation programme (SCSP) and zhng it up to become the Trap-Neuter-Rehome/Release-Manage (TNRM) programme.

Good luck to the Goody Feed blue cat in pronouncing that.

Mr Tan shared that only with such a “comprehensive cat management approach” encompassing the measures above can there be a chance for cat ownership in HDB flats to be allowed.

Continuing Efforts to Push for Cat Ownership in HDBs

It’s no secret that we also have a couple of cat enthusiasts in the government. Aside from Mr Tan, Nee Soon GRC MP Louis Ng also seems to be a cat lover.

Well, “cat lover” is still an understatement. There aren’t many of us who will spend years pushing for cat ownership in HDBs.

Mr Ng has been pushing for changes to the cat ban for more than a decade now, sharing that it would bring him to tears if cat ownership in HDBs is finally allowed.

In his Facebook post, the MP shared that he will continue to speak up to push for cat ownership in HDB flats.

While Singapore’s cat lovers continue to wait for it to be legal to bring our feline friends home, AVS will also continue pushing for cat ownership in HDBs.

From next month onwards, AVS aims to organise focus group discussions surrounding topics like the impact of AVS’s proposed plans on various stakeholders. These discussions will last for a few months.

Have an opinion about the HDB cat ownership issue? AVS welcomes your feedback and suggestions on cat ownership, cat caregiving and AVS’s proposed measures!

You can share your feedback here.

With any hope, Goody Feed’s blue cat can have a (legal) home soon.