Three community cats from Queenstown have died of suspected poisoning as part of pest control measures, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said.
They were among seven cases of sickened cats reported over more than three weeks.
Source: Susan Lee on Facebook
SPCA has called for humane population control measures to be used.
The cat deaths were revealed by the SPCA in a Facebook post on Friday (28 June).
All seven of the suspected poisoning cases took place in Mei Ling Street from 3 to 26 June, it said.
Source: Susan Lee on Facebook
The cats likely ingested poison meant for other species such as pigeons or rodents.
The carcasses of the three cats who didn’t survive have been handed over to the authorities and will undergo post-mortems.
The issue was highlighted as early as 15 May by cat feeder Piry Lim.
She said in a Facebook post that when she started feeding cats that day, she saw dead pigeons and starlings on the ground.
Source: Piry Lim on Facebook
She also saw bits of food nearby.
Source: Piry Lim on Facebook
She questioned whether this method of culling birds was right and was concerned that community cats would eat the poisoned food.
Two days later, she found more dead pigeons, and a dead starling the day after that.
On 3 June, another cat feeder Susan Lee posted that she received a call from Mdm Lim, who had been feeding cats at Block 155 and 156 Mei Ling Street.
She found two cats there “groaning”, she said. A video she shared showed a cat lying in a drain, convulsing and moaning in distress.
Source: Susan Lee on Facebook
Two dead pigeons and a dead starling were not far away, she added.
A few hours later, she updated the post to say that one of the cats had died and the other was breathing very weakly.
On 6 June, Ms Lim posted that the other cat had died on the way to SPCA.
Their carcasses were taken away by the Animal Veterinary Service (AVS).
A nearby resident had told Mdm Lim that she saw pest control workers put poison in the area, she added.
On 26 June, Mdm Lim posted that she was informed of another dead cat in Mei Ling Street.
To her dismay, she realised that it was a cat named “Princess Meiling”, who had been a previous victim of poisoning, she said.
Source: Piry Lim on Facebook
Having recovered after being seen by a private vet, another suspected poisoning unfortunately took her life, she said.
Photos she shared showed SPCA taking away the carcass.
Source: Piry Lim on Facebook
Mdm Lim also posted videos of two more cats in distress. One of them, a black and white tabby, was seen wailing in apparent distress behind a washing machine.
Source: Piry Lim on Facebook
The other, covered in a blanket, was seen meowing despairingly.
Source: Piry Lim on Facebook
In another post on 26 June, Ms Lee said the latest suspected cat poisoning cases were handed over to AVS, with the Cat Welfare Society also getting involved.
At 9pm the same day, she updated that another cat had been found poisoned and was sent to a vet by a kind resident.
In response to the incidents, the SPCA appealed to pest control agencies and members of the public to consider humane population control measures, saying:
Culling measures have been shown to be ineffective, inhumane, and indiscriminate as they may impact other unintended animal victims.
Moreover, the measures may not even solve the problem of overpopulation as more animals will move in to take the place of the animals killed. “This is especially true of pigeons,” it added.
The SPCA instead recommended humane control methods such as removal of food sources and exclusionary measures.
If community cat feeders and members of the public come across similar cases of suspected cat poisoning, they are urged to call its 24/7 emergency hotline at 6287 5355, extension 9.
Also read: Bukit Merah Cat Dies From Allegedly Poisoned Food, SPCA Investigating Incident
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Featured image adapted from Piry Lim on Facebook and Susan Lee on Facebook.
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