Apprentice Jockey At Singapore Turf Club Seeks New Homes For Stable Cats
On 5 June, it was announced that the Singapore Turf Club (STC) will be closing down for good in March 2027, with the last race to be held in October 2024.
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However, besides the horses, there are also over 100 cats housed in its 20 stables, some of which are feral.
Jerlyn Seow, 29, has been an apprentice jockey since 2021 and is worried about what will happen to the felines when the Turf Club closes down.
She is hoping that the cats can be rehomed or adopted before this happens, although much is up in the air at the moment, including whether the authorities will go ahead with closing STC.
Currently, there’s a petition with more than 2,000 signatures to save horse racing in Singapore.
Some cats taken home, others still to be rehomed
Ms Seow told MS News that the cats are spread out among STC’s numerous stables.
Each stable can have between one to 20 cats, consisting of both kittens and older felines.
Source: Instagram
Although most of them are neutered, some feral cats proved harder to catch, and as a result, they gave birth and multiplied over the years.
Ms Seow, who’s worked at STC since 2015 or 2016, has known the cats since the first day she worked there.
The Cat Welfare Society (CWS) has reached out to ask Ms Seow to post on their adoption bulletin.
Instagram account used for rehoming Turf Club cats
Ms Seow is temporarily using the Instagram account @kranjicats to help rehome the cats.
Though some of them have been taken home by local stable staff, there are others who still live in the stables.
Source: Instagram
Details on whether the cats are sterilised will be included in the posts. CWS is working with the stables and vets to sterilise some of the cats at STC.
Ms Seow is still sad that the cats have to be put up for adoption, however.
“Everyone here already treats the stable cats like our own cats. They are very loved and treated well over here,” she said.
The staff are feeling “down and depressed”, according to Ms Seow. “On top of that, there are still over 700 horses to worry about.”
Hopes STC can be saved
Despite the news, Ms Seow is still holding on to a glimmer of hope that the authorities will not shut horse racing down in Singapore.
Source: @singaporeturfclub on Instagram
There appeared to be some communication breakdown between the club and stables, Ms Seow claimed.
“Lots of horse owners and trainers are upset as they were just buying horses a few days before the news broke on overseas social media, and then local media.”
Regardless, the first concern is still about the horses’ welfare and whether they can be rehomed.
The cats are also a worry for the stable staff, including Ms Seow. However, she shared that the cats are still being fed every day, and there could be as many as a hundred staff keeping the felines fed.
Still, the hope is that STC can be saved in some form, which led to the petition on Change.org. As of the time of writing, there are over 2,220 signatures.
On the other hand, if you’d like to adopt a cat, you can DM @kranjicats on Instagram.
Hopefully, they — and the horses — will all be able to find new loving homes soon.
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Featured image adapted from @kranjicats on Instagram and @kranjicats on Instagram.
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