Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) has announced that the Government is currently building facilities to provide spaces for animal welfare groups to operate animal shelters and for pet farms which will be located in Sungei Tengah and will be ready by end 2017.
AVA said that most of the animal welfare groups and pet farms are currently located in Loyang and Seletar. They will need to move out of their current premises when their leases expire by end 2017, as their sites are needed by the government for redevelopment.
To facilitate the move, the Government will build and lease the facilities to the animal welfare groups and pet farms for monthly rentals. This means they need not raise funds to pay a lump sum to buy land and construct their own facilities.
AVA said that there will be sufficient space for the existing number of animals from the animal welfare groups and pet farms in Loyang and Seletar. The Government-built facilities will ensure that the spaces adhere to animal welfare standards.
According to AVA, the new facilities will have two storeys, instead of one storey like the current premises. In land scarce Singapore, the new two-storey facilities will make more intensive use of the land.
It also said that there is scope to plan for sharing of common facilities such as dog runs, which will further optimise land use.
AVA noted that it is seeking the views of various stakeholders on the design specifications of the facilities and will continue to engage them.
TOC notes that there might be some issues given that the dog shelters will be situated closely to the cat shelters which will cause unnessary distress to the animals.
