Firm fined but ‘not wholly responsible’ for cat’s death: AVA

The pest control company which lay a glue trap that led to the death of a cat in Jurong West has been fined, said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).

The firm has also been given a stern warning for failing to take the necessary precautions to prevent non-target animals from being caught on the trap, the agency said in a statement posted on its Facebook page on Friday.

The name of the company and amount fined was not revealed.

However, AVA said that its investigation revealed that the firm was “not wholly responsible for the state of respiratory distress” that eventually led to the cat being put down by a vet from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

The cat had been caught in a glue trap at a bin centre in Jurong West Street 52 in February and was later brought to the SPCA.

“Based on the informant’s photograph and his eyewitness account, the cat could possibly be saved (sic) as only its legs were stuck on the glue board. It appears that during the rescue undertaken by SPCA, the use of a plastic garbage bag to remove and transport the cat inadvertently caused the glue to be spread to other parts of the cat’s body,” AVA said.

However, the SPCA said that its veterinarians are in agreement that transportation was the “best option under the circumstances”.

In its response on AVA’s Facebook page, the SPCA added that its staff “did their best with what was available”. They had removed the cat from the glue board, placed it on a plastic bag and onto a pet carrier before transporting it to the clinic.

“And while in the course of the transportation to the SPCA clinic, the cat might have struggled and the glue spread across the rest of its body, it is our veterinarians’ opinion based on the description of the cat’s symptoms by the caller and our rescue staff that the cat’s condition would not have worsened significantly,” said the SPCA.

In addition, AVA has rejected the SPCA’s call for a ban on glue traps, as such a ban “could adversely impact the effective handling of rodent situations in Singapore”.

To prevent a similar incident from occurring, existing guidelines on the use of such traps will be reviewed and revised, AVA added.