A man who left his cat at home to starve was recently fined $10,000 after causing the death of his pet.
25-year-old Khairulnizam Khan Kamalrozaman, was initially charged back in August with starving his pet cat to death, but his charge has since been amended to causing it unnecessary pain and suffering by not providing it with enough food and water.
Many people fail to take proper care of their pets. In many cases, people become pet owners without understanding the responsibility that comes with owning an animal.
They may not have enough money for pet food or veterinary care, or they may not have the time or energy to give their pet the attention and care it needs.
Sembawang
According to Channel NewsAsia, Khairulnizam’s offences took place from 25 December 2020 to 2 February 2021.
The cat was kept in his Sembawang flat, where he didn’t feed it enough water and food, resulting in the death of the cat.
He was expected to plead guilty on 26 October but requested an adjournment from the court to raise money for his wife who had just given birth 3 weeks ago.
He also claimed that he had an appointment with the Housing Board that he can’t miss because it would mean his flat being repossessed.
He was then granted an adjournment to December, where he will be pleading guilty to his offences.
The case finally ended when he was sentenced to a fine of $10,000 on Jan 30.
How he got caught
His neighbours caught a foul smell lingering around his unit and called the authorities to step in.
When the authorities arrived they found the dead cat and it was decomposing.
Khairulnizam was unable to pay the $10,000 fine and he was jailed for 20 days instead.