SINGAPORE: The Singapore Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said over social media posts on Monday (Sept 9) that two chinchillas were discovered abandoned at an HDB block.
The group is appealing to the public for help concerning information about the abandoned animals found in a tall metal cage at the void deck of Blk 643 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5. A member of the public had found the small animals last Thursday (Sept 5) at around 2:30 in the afternoon.
The SPCA added that it has no legal rights to retrieve the CCTV footage from nearby cameras, so they’ve asked the public to come forward with pertinent information about the chinchillas, which are now with the organization.
“As such, if you have any information, witnessed anything unusual on the afternoon of 5 Sept 2024, or know someone who might, we urge you to come forward and share it with us.
Please call our 24/7 hotline at 6287 5355 (ext. 9) or email inspector@spca.org.sg. Information provided will be treated with the strictest confidence,” SPCA said. It added that the issue has been brought to the attention of the authorities.
According to Singapore’s Animals and Birds Act, people convicted of cruelty to animals, including abandonment, may be fined as much as S$15,000 or sent to jail for as long as 18 months.
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Chinchillas are not native to Singapore, but keeping them as pets is legal. The SPCA, however, does not encourage this.
Since the animals are native to the Andes Mountains of South America, where the weather is dry and cool, chinchillas have dense fur for warmth.
“As our hot and humid tropical weather can be harmful or even deadly for the animal. To combat the heat, owners must keep the living conditions cool and dry, controlled to an ideal temperature of 15 to 20 degrees Celsius.
Overheating is life-threatening for a chinchilla, so owners have to keep a look-out for signs such as restlessness, deep and rapid breathing, drooling, weakness, and fever,” SPCA said in a Facebook post in early 2019.
The group urged potential pet keepers to consider the matter carefully before they take a chinchilla as a pet, as the small animals can live between 15 and 20 years. /TISG
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