A Visit to Singapore Animal Shelter - SPCA

We thought it would be a good idea to bring the kids to Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in Singapore. Not only could we educate the children of the importance of being kind to animals, be a responsible pet owner, we could also help in monetary way by purchasing the merchandise of SPCA and giving a small donation.

The centre is located at 31 Mount Vernon Road. It is not a big area with only about 30-40 kernels to house the dogs, another small seperate area to house the 20 or so cats, fews rabbits and hamsters. The cost to sponsor a kernel si $3000 a year.

SPCA is totally funded by volunteers, it is a privately run society receiving no financial assistence from the Singapore government. Looking at the centre, I feel that a lot can be done if more funds are available.

We heard of stories that many dogs and cats have been put down if they are unable to find foster families to adopt them within certain period of time. It is a sad but unavoidable situation given the large number of abandon pets and strays found on the road.
SPCA simply could not cope if it were to house each and every animal sent there without a much larger area plus a much larger fund.

We used the opportunity to explain to our older boy who understands more about the need to be kind to animals and the need to be a responsible person. He was very fond of a cat and wanted to adopt it. However, we felt that he was not ready to take care of a pet so we showed our support by purchasing T-shirts, a car decal, poster and some stickers.

One of the staff shared that the centre will need to be vacated as the government needed to expand the roads, a possible venue for relocation is Lim Chu Kang, the remote farming area in the West. He expressed concern that visitor number may drop when it’s is too far away and that would also affect the donation and other aspects of the society.

It is our wish that the Government would render financial assistence to the SPCA. We hope they will be able to recruit good marketing personnel to do more fund raising, increase awareness of the mission of the centre and eventually improve the welfare of all animals in Singapore.