SINGAPORE — On Jan 30 (Tuesday), a man named Khairulnizam Khan Kamalrozaman was given a fine of S$10,000 for not feeding his cat, Grey, for over a month. The cat died of starvation and dehydration.
He pleaded guilty to one charge under the Animals and Birds Act of causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal. Since Khairulnizam could not pay the fine, he will be serving a jail term of 20 days instead.
It was found that he had failed to give the cat enough food and water regularly between Dec 25, 2020, and Feb 2, 2021.
Khairulnizam adopted the cat in early 2019 and was primarily responsible for Grey’s care. At that time, Khairulnizam lived with his wife in a flat at Sembawang Crescent.
However, in October of the following year, he and his family moved around, sometimes living with his wife’s relatives in Woodlands and other times at Boon Lay near his work at Jurong Port.
Grey remained at the Sembawang Crescent flat the whole time.
Khairulnizam returned from time to time to feed Grey, but the last time he was back there was in December 2020. Some weeks later, he received a neighbour’s message about a foul smell emanating from his flat. In some of the messages, the neighbour asked him if the cat had died.
As the smell increased, the neighbour told Khairulnizam that he needed to return urgently, which he did not do.
The National Parks Board (NParks) was called in by a public member, and when its staff got to the Sembawang Crescent flat of Khairulnizam on Feb 2, 2021, they discovered that Grey had died.
Upon investigation, NParks found that the cat had autolysis which is the destruction of cells or tissues by their own enzymes, especially those released by lysosomes. It had been deceased for around one week.
Khairulnizam had initially asked for more time to raise funds to pay his fine, but when he could not pay, the judge finally sentenced him to 20 days in jail instead of the fine. /TISG