Pet rats found abandoned in dirty and smelly cage at Geylang void deck

Two pets rats were found abandoned in a soiled cage at a Housing Board (HDB) void deck in Geylang last Tuesday (June 27).

Stomper Tengku said she discovered the pair of rats at Block 52 Cassia Crescent, next to My First Skool, at around 5.45pm.

She then called the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

Photos taken by the Stomper show the two rodents, which appeared to be fancy rats, hunched in one corner of a filthy-looking cage. Dishes of cucumber, food pellets and water can be seen.

Tengku told Stomp: "The cage was smelly and seemed like it wasn’t being taken care of at all.

"At first, I thought the rats were dead. But I reported the case to SPCA, who took the rats away to get them checked out as they were still alive."

In response to a Stomp query, SPCA's executive director Ms Aarthi Sankar confirmed that it was alerted to the case of alleged abandonment on June 27.

Ms Sankar said: "As we did not have the capacity to take the rodents in, our Animal Support Officer referred the case to the authorities. Our Inspectors have filed a report with the authorities.

"We are appealing to anyone with credible information about this case to call our emergency hotline 6287 5355 (ext 9) or email us at depinspector@spca.org.sg.

"Pet guardians have a lifelong responsibility to provide care for their pets. Abandonment is a serious offence and under the Animals and Birds Act, those found guilty of pet abandonment can be fined up to $10,000, imprisoned for a maximum of 12 months, or both."

Pet guardians are encouraged to seek assistance from friends, family and animal welfare groups in the event they are are no longer able to care for their pets, advised Ms Sankar.

She added: "While the SPCA is not able to accommodate all surrender requests due to space constraints, pet guardians can responsibly rehome their pets using our rehoming noticeboard at https://spca.org.sg/services/rehoming."

View more photos in the gallery.