Kitten freed after being found stuck in trap meant to catch rats in Tampines market
A kitten caught in a glue trap in a Tampines wet market has been freed and is being nursed back to health.
Its plight was revealed in a social media post on Sunday (Feb 27).
Facebook user Grace Chai posted a video of the kitten on the Support Tampines Cat Caregivers page.
It had apparently spent hours desperately trying to free itself and was exhausted.
SPCA Singapore, the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, rescued the kitten from the Tampines Street 81 Wet Market and took it in.
It was then treated by a veterinarian.
Facebook updates said that though freed from the trap and showered multiple times, the kitten was still weak and it’s fur sticky.
Apparently the trap had been placed there to catch rats. The post said a rat was seen there as the kitten was being attended to.
The Coconuts Singapore website reported that the video had been recorded by a friend of Grace Chai, a local resident.
It said such traps were easily available and quoted Ms Anbarasi Boopal of the wildlife group Acres as calling for their use to be more regulated.
There have also been calls for these traps to be banned altogether.
Glue traps are mostly used against rodents but Acres has rescued creatures such as snakes and birds, including endangered ones, caught on the sticky surface.
It can be a cruel end.
“Whether a rodent, our community animals or wildlife, once stuck they experience extreme stress and fear, death from dehydration, starvation or even self mutilation trying to escape,” Ms Anbarasi was quoted as saying.
She felt it was better to remove the root cause of infestation by observing better hygiene and preventing food availability for pests.
The rescued kitten was expected to recover and be put up for adoption by the SPCA.
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