SINGAPORE - A woman used her friend's home as a pet shop for three months without a licence and bred kittens for sale online.

On Wednesday (Feb 14), Siti Hasmirah Hamidon, 27, was fined a total of $6,500 after she admitted to two charges - using the flat in Buangkok Crescent to sell a Ragdoll kitten named Junior and a cat named Fizal to a customer, and keeping a farm without a licence from March to June last year.

The court heard that she initially owned seven adult cats and seven kittens, mostly Ragdolls or dog-like cats.

Her parents objected to her keeping so many cats in their flat so she took them to her friend's flat in Buangkok Crescent. She also agreed to compensate her friend for allowing her to use the flat.

In March and April last year, two of her cats gave birth to four and five kittens respectively. Two died.

Some time in mid-June, she started posting photographs of her kittens for sale on her Facebook page. One of the posts was for the sale of a Ragdoll kitten named Junior.

On June 17, two women came to the flat to buy the kitten. On arrival, they saw three other kittens that were also put up for sale together with Junior.

Siti told one of them that she had no intention to sterilise her cats, and would continue to breed them as long as there were buyers.

She offered to sell an adult male cat named Fizal or Fifi, who fathered Junior, to one of the women at a discounted price of $250 provided the customer bought Junior at $300.

The customer bought Junior and returned about an hour later and paid for Fizal.

Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority prosecuting officer Yap Teck Chuan said Siti had profited from the breeding activities by selling the kittens online to willing buyers.

Siti could have been fined up to $10,000 and/or jailed for up to 12 months for operating an unlicensed pet farm.