SINGAPORE – Thinking they had spotted a business opportunity, a married couple bred imported ragdoll cats at home.
They imported one male and four female ragdolls, producing 30 kittens between May 2022 and May 2023, despite knowing it was illegal to do so.
They sold eight kittens for a total of $46,300.
On Nov 20, Wen Tianhao and Qiu Shiwen, both 29, were each fined $52,500 and jailed for a week.
The couple had each pleaded guilty to one charge of operating a commercial breeding farm without a valid licence and 15 charges of keeping the cats they had bred for sale at home without a licence.
Court documents showed that Wen, a Singaporean, and Qiu, a Chinese national who is a permanent resident, came up with a plan to open a cattery in 2021.
They felt that the ragdoll cats sold in Singapore were of poor quality, and imported the five adults from overseas catteries to their home.
It was only about a year later in May 2022 that Wen contacted the National Parks Board (NParks) to inquire about obtaining a pet shop licence to sell cats.
valid licence was required
if he wanted to breed his pets for sale, and that commercial breeding of pets should be conducted only on licensed farms.
Wen applied for a pet shop licence on June 1, 2022.
