2023 not a good year for animals in Singapore
Singapore's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) on Jan 30 released its Animal Cruelty and Welfare Report for 2023 – and it does not look good.
A total of 915 cruelty and welfare cases were investigated – the highest in 11 years. The number of cases reflects a 79 per cent increase year on year.
Of the cruelty cases investigated, six involved youth.
Worryingly, abuse cases also involved pet businesses. SPCA attended to 31 such cases last year, including conducting a probe into a video showing a K9 Connection trainer repeatedly hitting and threatening a dog.
Pet abandonment is another ongoing problem in Singapore.
"From the 285 abandoned animals to the 480 living in cramped, unsanitary conditions, the scale of suffering is immense," said SPCA, pointing out that these were cases it was aware of.
Almost half of the abandoned animals were cats (45 per cent), with hamsters making up the second-most abandoned specie at 27 per cent.
At the opposite end of abandonment are hoarding cases. SPCA was alerted to 30 hoarding instances involving almost 500 animals.
On a positive note, SPCA reported that it rescued 1,200 animals and more than 600 found their forever home last year.
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