Town council apologises over cat relocation

A town council apologised yesterday for the way it handled the relocation of a cat due to a resident's complaints, after a cat was placed in a bin centre last Friday.

Its apology comes after Ms Rachel Ong, 22, a polytechnic student, posted on Facebook on Friday that two cleaners were carrying a cat and had placed it in a rubbish-chute area.

An eyewitness had alerted Ms Ong to the matter, according to her post on Facebook group Sayang Our Singapore's Community Cats.

Ms Rachel said she approached one cleaner to check if the animal belonged to someone, but was turned away. As she could not reach the town council despite repeated calls, she called the police.

The Straits Times understands that the police helped to mediate discussions between CWS and the town council.

In the video in Ms Rachel's post, loud meowing sounds can be heard as the person filming moves towards a door at the back of the bin centre. A photo shows a cat in a cage, behind a door.

The Tampines Town Council acknowledged yesterday that there had been a "lapse in protocol in the handling of the recent cat-related matter".

It said in a Facebook post that it had repeatedly received feedback about defaecation and urination by a cat outside a resident's unit, and that the resident had asked for the town council's help to address the issue.

"As the town council staff was relatively new, instruction was given to safely relocate the cat. The bin centre was used as a temporary transit point. It was never our intention to cause any harm to the cat," the town council said.

It added that it has issued a warning to the staff member and will continue to work closely with CWS to educate its staff on the proper management of cat-related issues.

CWS president Thenuga Vijakumar told The Straits Times yesterday that the cat was returned to the community on Friday, after the mediation. The society receives about 10 reports a year about likely cases of cat relocation, mostly from residents, Ms Vijakumar said.

Netizens expressed concern for the cat in comments on the Facebook post. "I cried and my body was shaking reading this whole story! Thank goodness the cat was taken out," said Ms Rheann Kester.

Correction note: This article has been edited for clarity.