From 3 August, approved cat fosterers can keep up to six cats in three-room or larger HDB flats under a new two-year pilot scheme, and up to 10 in private premises.
Both limits include all pet and foster cats. Here’s how it works.
How it Works
The Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) said in a 18 July press release that the scheme was shaped by public engagements since 2023 and inputs from HDB and animal welfare groups.
Licensing fees will be waived for approved fosterers during the pilot. Unsterilised foster cats get a one-year licence that cannot be renewed if the cats remain unsterilised.
All cats in the household must be sterilised, with kittens done by six months of age or within two months of fostering, whichever is later, and older cats within two months of fostering, unless medically exempted.
Applications open 3 August via an online form. Requirements include fostering or pet care experience, sufficient financial and time resources, residence in private premises or a three-room or larger HDB sold flat, sterilisation and microchipping of all existing cats, and no adverse feedback or animal welfare and licensing offences in the two years prior.
AVS will review the scheme after two years.
New Rules for Cat Ownership
In case you’ve forgotten, from 1 September 2026, keeping an unlicensed pet cat becomes an offence, with fines of up to S$5,000. Owners must keep cats safe indoors with mesh or grilles and under physical control in public.
About 11,500 pet cats have been microchipped since free drives began on 1 September 2024.
Owners who had licensed cats before the transition period ended may keep them all beyond 1 September 2026, even above the limits. Abandonment remains punishable by a fine of up to S$10,000, jail of up to 12 months, or both.
To know more about the misconceptions of cats in Singapore, watch this to the end:
