SINGAPORE – For almost two years, a woman and her husband left 71 cats abandoned in a filthy Housing Board flat without sufficient food and water, where animal carcasses and skulls were later found.
Their negligence was discovered only when a neighbour alerted the authorities after spotting a distressed cat perched on the air-conditioning ledge of the unit.
Nurul Nadiah Noor Mohamed, 33, was sentenced to 16 weeks’ jail on Nov 12, after pleading guilty to 24 charges for permitting the causing of unnecessary pain and suffering to the animals.
She is also disqualified from owning pets for 12 months.
Her husband, Muhammad Khairul Naim Zainol, 37, who earlier pleaded guilty to the same number of charges, was jailed for 16 weeks on Sept 23.
When the couple purchased the Bukit Panjang flat in March 2018, they did not own any pets.
They acquired several unsterilised cats from early 2019, after which the animals began breeding rapidly.
Despite their attempts to rehome the cats, their numbers continued to grow.
In April 2022, the couple moved out of the unit to stay with Khairul’s parents, but left the cats in the flat. A few months later, the unit’s water and electricity were cut off after utility bills were unpaid.
Khairul claimed he returned to the Bukit Panjang flat daily to leave food and water for the cats, but stopped once it became increasingly difficult to enter the unit.
He resorted to placing food and water at the doorstep. The last time he entered the unit was in December 2023.
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