Elderly man allegedly sets cat shelter on fire twice over cat-feeding dispute

SINGAPORE: A 67-year-old man was said to be dissatisfied with other residents feeding the community cats, which is why he was suspected of setting fire to a cat shelter twice in a span of two days. His wrongdoing was caught in action by his neighbours, but he showed no interest or concern. With this, he was later arrested for arson. 

The two events happened consecutively at a block in Bukit Batok East. A 51-year-old cat lover shared a report to Shin Min Daily News stating that ‘cat houses’ for community cats had caught fire for two days straight, and it was allegedly done on purpose. 

The cat lover reported that the crime was captured on a surveillance camera of a neighbour living across the street. “As far as I know, the uncle involved was unhappy with us feeding these community cats, so he set fire to the cat house when no one was around in the early morning,” the cat lover expressed. 

Furthermore, the resident stated a neighbour tried to stop the elderly man, but the uncle did not just leave but watched the fire instead. The neighbour then became so angry and called the authorities, and the public extinguished the fire before the civil defence arrived. 

When reporters visited the location of the fire, they discovered that the walls near the area had been repainted, but there were still scorch marks visible on the floor. Moreover, three community cats were there, and several cat lovers were feeding them. 

Thankfully, no one was injured in the incident. The case is still under investigation. 

Arson means to intentionally set a fire, and in Singapore, a person who does this can be charged with “mischief by fire.”

If a person sets fire on purpose to damage a property, they may face serious punishments. This crime can have a consequence of up to seven years of imprisonment and a fine.