A pet cat in Queenstown allegedly fell to its death from 12 storeys a mere day after it was caught on video playing by the HDB flat window ledge without any safety mesh.

The tragic death has since attracted public scrutiny.

Video showed cat playing on ledge

The Cats of Meiling St Facebook group posted a 1-minute clip on Jan. 8 of a cat pacing outside a narrow window ledge.

According to the post, the Queenstown unit is along Meiling Street.

Cat found dead the next day

On Jan. 9, a cat's body was found on the ground floor of the block, presumably having fallen from a great height.

In another post, the group said no one retrieved the carcass, even after five hours.

House owner allegedly shut door when questioned

When a rescuer went up to confront the owner of the deceased cat, the occupant of the unit allegedly shut the door.

Other online commenters also said they saw the cat pacing on the ledge in the pouring rain a day before its demise.

A report has since been lodged with Animal Veterinary Service (AVS) for animal negligence.

A police report has also been made.

Lesson not learnt

On Jan. 10, another 20-second clip was posted, allegedly depicting yet another cat sitting on the same ledge of the same household.

When rescuers again showed up at the unit, the family's children answered the door as their parents were not home.

But the children could not say if the cat that had allegedly fallen to its death the day before belonged to them.

To prevent the cats from slipping through the window grills again, the kids were advised to shut their windows.

In response to a Mothership query, Jessica Kwok, Group Director of AVS said that the cases are currently being looked into.

The Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS), a cluster of the National Parks Board, takes all feedback received from the public on animal welfare seriously, and will look into the cases reported. We were concerned when alerted to a cat that had fallen off a ledge at Block 155 Meiling Street and is looking into the case.

As with all investigations, all forms of evidence are critical to the process, such as first-hand eyewitnesses and any CCTV footage. Photographic and/or video-graphic evidence provided by the public will also help. They can alert AVS of any suspected cases via the online feedback form on our website at www.avs.gov.sg/feedback or call us at 1800-476-1600. Information shared with AVS will be kept strictly confidential.

"Cats do not have nine lives"

Cats of Meiling St wrote in its Facebook post that "cats do not have nine lives", and the irresponsibility of owners endangers the cats.

Stop using all the reasons of • our cats is trained to sit at the ledge. • our cats wont fall off. • our cats know what they are doing. Please let your kids sit by the ledge and tell us they are trained to do that and they wont fall. 🙄😒 How many post of cats you see have fallen? How many are severely injured? How many didnt survive? ⚠️⚠️⚠️ CATS DO NOT HAVE 9 LIVES! ⚠️⚠️⚠️ YOUR IRRESPONSIBILITY IS ENDANGERING ITS LIFE.

Under the Animals and Birds Act, owners found negligent in their duty of care could be fined up to S$10,000, jailed up to 12 months, or both.

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