{"id":13382,"date":"2025-11-21T14:37:52","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T06:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=13382"},"modified":"2025-11-21T14:37:52","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T06:37:52","slug":"married-couple-jailed-a-week-fined-52-5k-each-for-illegal-cat-breeding-from-their-spore-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=13382","title":{"rendered":"Married couple jailed a week, fined $52.5k each for illegal cat breeding from their S\u2019pore home"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

SINGAPORE – Thinking they had spotted a business opportunity, a married couple bred imported ragdoll cats at home.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

They sold eight kittens for a total of $46,300. <\/p>\n

On Nov 20, Wen Tianhao and Qiu Shiwen, both 29, were each fined $52,500 and jailed for a week. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

They felt that the ragdoll cats sold in Singapore were of poor quality, and imported the five adults from overseas catteries to their home.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

He was told a <\/p>\n

valid licence was required<\/p>\n

<\/a> if he wanted to breed his pets for sale, and that commercial breeding of pets should be conducted only on licensed farms. <\/p>\n

Wen applied for a pet shop licence on June 1, 2022. <\/p>\n

But around the same time, the Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS) received feedback that the couple had been breeding cats at home for sale. <\/p>\n

AVS investigated them, and on Sept 12, 2022, the pair were each fined $300 for keeping the cats they had illegally bred at their residence, without a licence.<\/p>\n

Wen received approval for a pet shop licence two days later, on Sept 15, 2022, which clearly stated that only cats that were sourced from AVS licensed pet farms or other AVS approved local or overseas sources could be sold. <\/p>\n

A day after receiving the licence, Wen wrote to AVS to ask for an exemption to allow him to sell the 11 kittens they had bred themselves, but the request was rejected. <\/p>\n

He was told to rehome the 11 kittens through family and friends. <\/p>\n

On Jan 18, 2023, AVS was again tipped off that the pair were breeding and selling ragdoll kittens from home. <\/p>\n

Inspections over two days in June 2023 led to seven cats being seized by the authorities. <\/p>\n

Another inspection on Aug 8, 2023, saw 14 more cats seized. <\/p>\n

The prosecution said the case was one of the most egregious instances of unlicensed cats discovered by NParks. <\/p>\n

It was later discovered that Wen and Qiu had started breeding the cats at home in May 2022, and had bred a total of 30 kittens from six litters before they were stopped.<\/p>\n

Court documents stated the pair had set up a website and social media accounts to advertise the sale of the cats. <\/p>\n

They marked the cats for sale at three price levels, with prices escalating from classifications such as at \u201cpet level\u201d, \u201cshow level\u201d and \u201csupreme show level\u201d. <\/p>\n

On the lower end, the kittens were marked for sale at between $4,000 and $5,000. Those earmarked at \u201csupreme show level\u201d were for sale at between $6,000 and $7,000. <\/p>\n

Eight kittens were sold for between $4,500 and $6,500 each, for a total of $46,300. <\/p>\n

This is the second case this week involving dozens of animals.<\/p>\n

On Nov 19, Julia Nicole Moss, 50, was <\/p>\n

fined $21,500<\/p>\n

<\/a> for keeping 78 poodles and a golden retriever at home. <\/p>\n

This is more than 26 times the limit of three dogs anyone can keep. <\/p>\n

All 79 had not been licensed, while 71 did not have microchips. <\/p>\n

All the dogs were seized by NParks. Three were returned to Moss after she agreed to take out valid licences for them. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n