In a statement released yesterday, the police and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said police were alerted to a cat carcass which was found next to Block 116, Yishun Ring Road at 5.55pm last Friday. The suspect was arrested yesterday morning at about 2am, along Yishun Ring Road.
The man is from the household which owned the dead cat, and is assisting the authorities with all of their investigations. “Investigations are also ongoing to establish if the man is involved in other Yishun cat death cases,” it said.
The other alleged cat abuser, Lee Wai Leong, 40, was on Dec 29 charged with animal cruelty for allegedly throwing a cat out from the 13th floor of a Housing Board block in Yishun.
But at least three cats have been found dead since, increasing speculations that there could be more than one killer.
The police and AVA said that investigations into all reported cases are yet ongoing, although they noted that in some cases, preliminary investigations have shown that the cause of death may not be due to animal cruelty.
A cat death last Thursday night, for instance, could be a hit and run.
Mr Louis Ng, an MP for the Nee Soon GRC, where the cat deaths have occurred, called on residents to remain vigilant by saying: “Investigations are ongoing but the latest arrest is a positive step.”
When The Sunday Times visited the neighborhood last Thursday, posters appealing for witnesses could be seen at a number of blocks.
Yishun resident of 20 years, Mr Raihan Yunos, a retail supervisor, said his sister installed mesh grilles on the windows and doors of their flat after the spike in attacks. “She put them up after the attacks to keep her cats indoors,” said the 44-year-old.
Housewife Lee Siok Gek, 47, said that while she is not “really interested in cats”, she hopes the killer should be found soon and brought to justice. “Such people must be punished for animal cruelty,” she said.
Mr Ng said: “Residents are worried. Some of them have expressed concern that going by the number of cat deaths, they are worried that the killer may progressively harm other living things.”
Such worries are not unfounded, experts expressed to The Sunday Times.
Dr Lim Boon Leng, a psychiatrist from the Gleneagles Hospital Singapore, stated: “We often see children with conduct disorder who are cruel to animals progress to become anti-social and individuals who are violent towards others. The act of cruelty demonstrates a lack of empathy for animals and humans alike and this will make it more likely that he goes on to attack humans.”
Student and Yishun resident Lionel Sen, 20, said he found it to be “devastating” that people were killing cats.
“It’s good to hear that people are working together to catch the culprit. We won’t know how many of them are out there doing this, but there are fewer cats getting killed around here now, so I’m thinking that it’s getting better.”