Man Fined S$10,000 After He Doesn’t Feed Pet Cat For More Than A Month
A man in Singapore failed to feed his pet cat sufficient food and water, ultimately resulting in its demise.
Pleading guilty to one charge under the Animals and Birds Act of causing the feline unnecessary pain and suffering, he has been fined S$10,000.
As he was unable to pay the fine, he will receive a jail sentence of 20 days in lieu of it.
Man fined S$10,000 for not feeding pet cat
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), 25-year-old Khairulnizam Khan Kamalrozaman was living in a flat at Sembawang Crescent with his wife at the end of 2018.
Khairulnizam then adopted the cat, named Grey, in February 2019. He was to be its primary caregiver.
Source: Nine Koepfer on Unsplash for illustration purposes only
Starting from October 2020, Khairulnizam and his family began living in different locations instead of the Sembawang flat.
Since he was working at Jurong Port, they would choose to stay with his in-laws in Woodlands or his aunt in Boon Lay.
However, the cat was still at the Sembawang flat with Khairulnizam occasionally returning to feed it. He admitted that his last visit was sometime in December 2020.
Pet cat passes away from starvation
From 25 Dec 2020 to 2 Feb 2021, Khairulnizam’s neighbour informed him of the foul smell coming from his flat via multiple texts.
They asked him if the cat had passed away, as they had not seen Khairulnizam for around two months.
When the foul smell became stronger, the neighbour left him more messages asking him to urgently return and check on the cat — which Khairulnizam did not do.
On 2 Feb 2021, a member of the public informed the National Parks Board (NParks) about a dead cat in the flat.
Officers went to the apartment on the same day and found a cat’s carcass inside.
A post-mortem examination by NParks’ veterinarian revealed a state of mummification and significant autolysis in the carcass.
Autolysis refers to self-digestion, or the destruction of an organism’s cells by its own enzymes.
While the time of death was uncertain, the vet said it would take at least a week for the carcass to have entered such a state of mummification and autolysis.
Did not have enough funds to pay fine
CNA reports that initially, Khairulnizam received a charge of starving the cat to death in August 2022.
However, this was amended to the current charge in October that same year.
He requested for several adjournments to raise enough funds to pay the fine, stating that his wife had just given birth.
He had also promised to take his daughter out for Chinese New Year, he said.
On 18 Jan, he again requested an adjournment, claiming he had no funds. The judge granted him a final adjournment before sentencing him on Monday (30 Jan).
In lieu of the fine, he will spend 20 days in jail.
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Featured image adapted from Nine Koepfer on Unsplash for illustration purposes only, and MS News.
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