January 25, 2018, 06:50 PM 
The Cat Museum is a volunteer-run sanctuary for rescued strays, and also an adoption centre to re-home the rescued cats.
A total of 325 cats have been adopted so far since it was set up in January 2015.
Come June 2018, a mere two-and-a-half years after opening, the Singapore Cat Museum will have to shut its doors for good.
Why is it closing?
The Cat Museum originally occupied both the second and third floors of the shophouse at Purvis Street.
However, in September 2017, the Cat Museum was involved in a dispute with the Ministry of National Development (MND).
By turning the third floor residential area into an extension of the Cat Museum, founder Jessica Seet was not abiding by the terms of the agreement which required that the museum be only located on the second floor.
The museum was forced to move out of the third floor, and give its 30 cats up for adoption as they could no longer live in the building.
According to a press release on Jan. 25, 2018, Seet said that the enforcement notice from Urban Redevelopment Authority and MND "angered [their] landlord who has refused to renew [their] lease."
This has left Seet no choice but to close the museum, which now operates out of the second floor, when the lease expires.
Cats up for adoption
At the end of June, the resident cats, named after celebrities like Channing Tatum, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Benedict Cumberbatch, would head home with Seet and a few volunteers.
There are still over 20 cats, however, that are in need of a home.
Cats up for adoption include four-month-old Snowman, a white kitten rescued in the Little India area last December, and one-year-old Sid, a grey-and-white tabby that was found as a kitten in Bishan.
The museum has put out multiple adoption calls on Facebook earlier this January but only one kitten has been taken home so far.
"100 days of hope" campaign
While the top priority is to find new homes for the remaining cats, Seet is also hoping to raise a total of S$1 million through the "Save the Cat Museum - 100 Days of Hope" campaign involving crowdfunding websites and museum events.
You can watch the campaign video here:
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Part of this money would go towards a downpayment to buy a permanent space so that the museum can make a comeback, hopefully at a location within the Civic District, and by the end of the year.
The rest of the money would contribute to education programmes for children and potential adopters, as well as collaborations with Agri-food Veterinary Authority to help cats captured because of complaints.
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The museum is also accepting donations:
- Donations through Go Get Funding or Give.Asia
- Cash or cheque donations made payable to "The Cat Museum" either in person or mailed to 8 Purvis Street #02-02 Singapore 188587
- A bank transfer to DBS Current 033 9049 743 or OCBC 686 362 385 001
- Monthly donations via Patreon
For updates on the museum's events, you can check out the Cat Museum Facebook page.
The museum's last day of operations is June 10, 2018.
Top photo composite image from Cat Museum, Muses & Mansion Instagram
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