Facebook netizen Janice Lim first informed the public of the situation on March 12 about a cat “crying for help” as it was stuck on the roof for a week.
Ms Lim said that the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) told her to call the Animal Veterinary Service (AVS) while the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said they only rescue humans.
“Called all authorities and everyone pushing the ball,” she said in her post on the Sayang Our Singapore’s Community Cats Facebook page.
Lastly, the National Parks Board (NParks) said a contractor deemed the roof rescue “dangerous, so not coming.”
“Said to wait for cat to come down on his own, but it’s been seven whole nights already,” she said.
On the 8th day, NParks sent two contractors to conduct the rescue mission.
Despite multiple rejections from many units not allowing access into their homes or weren’t home, the contractors were able to set up a cat trap in a safer location on the room but further away from the original sighting.
“Now we need to wait for the cat to be lured by the food smell to walk there and enter the trap. If that doesn’t work, then the trap needs to change location and change a fresh batch of food,” Ms Lim explained.
“There is a CCTV to monitor the cat cage, and further updates will be provided.”
On Sunday night (March 13) at 11:33 pm, Ms Lim checked on the situation and said the cat was still on the roof as the trap was too far. “So no food and no rescue. What should we do now?”
When netizens asked why the contractors didn’t rescue the cat when they set up the trap, Ms Lim said it would hide during the day.
Another netizen asked early Monday morning (March 14) if anyone was free to rent a telescopic ladder. “Found a few listings on Carousell with height longer than five metres, foldable and able to fit in a car.”
“Can also bring a backpack carrier to secure the cat when coming down,” the netizen added, in what appears to be another plan to rescue the cat.
“Someone climb up there to the cat to feed it. Then call SCDF to come rescue you (a human) and bring the cat along down. If you can’t beat the system, work around it,” another netizen advised.
Member of Parliament (PAP – Jalan Besar GRC) Dennis Phua also responded to the post on March 13 after a netizen tagged her.
Ms Phua said she was working on contacting AVS with the help of MP Louis Ng (PAP – Nee Soon GRC) as SPCA did not respond to her call.
Ms Phua said that AVS was looking into the matter, although a boom lift was needed. However, she later said that a boom lift won’t be activated, leading to the trap idea.
Mr Ng also commented that “AVS is working hard to rescue the cat” and thanked everyone for alerting them. /TISG