SINGAPORE — A 33-year-old man was fined S$4,000 on Wednesday (March 10) for helping a woman to permanently abandon her 16 cats near a Punggol public housing block.

Muhammad Haidhar Zulkifli, who does not own any pets himself, was also banned from owning any animal for a year.

The Singaporean told the court that he will not pay the fine, and will serve 10 days’ jail instead.

His accomplice, 35-year-old Nur Hajjar Osman, was similarly fined S$4,000 last month.

Haidhar pleaded guilty to two counts of animal abandonment under the Animals and Birds Act, as well as a Customs Act charge for selling duty-unpaid cigarettes earlier this year.

He was sentenced to two months and one week of jail time for the latter offence.

District Judge Adam Nakhoda considered another 15 similar charges for sentencing.

WHAT HAPPENED

The court heard that a member of the public contacted the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) on March 1 in 2019 to give feedback about the cats, which had been released at 222A Sumang Lane.

The National Parks Board (NParks) took over AVA’s responsibilities for animals in April 2019.

A few days before the call to AVA was made, on Feb 28, Hajjar had enlisted Haidhar’s help to release her cats because she was unable to take care of them.

After he agreed, he went over to her Housing and Development Board (HDB) flat along Sumang Walk in the wee hours of March 1.

He took the cats away in five cages and loaded them onto a lorry that he had borrowed, before driving around the area.

He eventually decided to release them at the Sumang Lane HDB block and drove away. All the cats were eventually rescued.

As for his Customs offence, he had bought 10 cartons of contraband cigarettes for S$80 each on Jan 8 this year, intending to resell them for profit. He advertised them on messaging platform Telegram and arranged to meet a buyer four days later.

Police officers staked out the location — Block 691 Jurong West Central 1 — and saw Haidhar acting suspiciously at the void deck, carrying a black sling bag.

When the officers checked him, they found the 10 cartons, each containing 160 sticks of Gudang Garam Surya cigarettes, in two plastic bags in his sling bag. They then arrested him.

The excise duty payable was about S$1,300.

‘PETS ARE FOR LIFE’

NParks prosecutor Packer Mohamed sought the fine imposed, telling the court that Haidhar’s actions were “totally unacceptable” and that there was no excuse for anyone to abandon their pets.

“Pets are for life,” he added.

In mitigation, Haidhar pleaded for leniency. He said that his wife is now pregnant and that his father, who suffers from diabetes, is not working.

District Judge Nakhoda questioned if Hajjar was related to him. He responded “no”.

“Just someone you’re doing a favour for?” The judge asked. He replied yes.

For each abandonment charge, Haidhar could have been jailed for up to a year or fined up to S$10,000 for the first conviction, or received both penalties.