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Three government bodies have declared to the media that they did not engage any pest controllers to cull the stray cats in Pasir Ris.
The National Parks Board, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority and the People’s Association, were responding to questions regarding the mysterious deaths of nine cats in Pasir Ris Park since 14 June.
The Cat Welfare Society (CWS) has also met with officials of the three government organisations and said that the three “have confirmed that they did not activate pest control for the clean up before the event nor instruct cleaners to tell feeders to relocate the cats.”
However, CWS also said that it “cannot rule out the possibility of the perpetrator being a staff, contractor or member of the public acting on his or her own accord and have urged the organisations to take measures to ensure that their stance on stray management in the park be properly communicated down the chain of commands.”
CWS will be putting up posters in Pasir Ris Park by Sunday to appeal for information on the deaths of the cats.
The first clue that things were not normal at the park was when “the morning park feeder discovered the suspicious fish crumbs and dead birds at 7am in the PA compound”, the CWS said on its Facebook page.
“She noticed that some cats were missing. It is ascertained that the gate is opened everyday for public access at 6am by the nightguard.”
Several cats were then discovered to be seriously ill or dead.
“More fish crumbs were found on 22 Jun in PA compound which was sent to AVA for testing,” CWS said.
The fish crumbs, which were also scattered in the park, are believed to perhaps have contributed to the deaths, although investigations are still ongoing.
Another important clue, which The Online Citizen (TOC) reported earlier and which the mainstream media has avoided mentioning in their reports, is the holding of an event by the PA’s “Water Venture Adventure Challenge” just prior to the deaths of the cats.
There have not been any reports of cats dying in such numbers in Pasir Ris up till then.
The event was held on 21 June and just next to the Water Venture building.
The guest-of-honour for the event was deputy prime minister, Teo Chee Hean.
TOC reported that a massive cleaning up operation by Water Venture had taken place before DPM Teo’s visit.
Crucially, a week before the event, the cleaners at the area had warned the feeders to relocate the cats as they have been instructed to clean the place thoroughly due to the DPM’s visit, which included a walk.
Investigations should therefore include interviews with the cleaners who had cleaned the area prior to the discovery of the deaths of the cats.
Is it a mere coincidence that following the massive clean-up that the dead cats started surfacing, when all these years such deaths had never happened?
The People’s Association and/or Water Venture should perhaps tell the public if it had engaged any cleaners prior to the visit by DPM Teo, and the scale and exact instructions given to the cleaning company for the operation.
Most importantly, they should ask the cleaners themselves or the cleaning company if they had employed poison to kill the stray cats.
Anyone found guilty of animal cruelty can be fined up to $15,000, jailed for up to 18 months, or both.
TOC spoke to cat feeders in the area about the incident: