SINGAPORE, Nov 21 — A married couple who illegally bred ragdoll cats at home and sold the kittens for thousands of dollars have been fined and jailed, after authorities described the case as one of the most serious examples of unlicensed pet breeding uncovered in recent years.
According to The Straits Times, Wen Tianhao and his wife, Qiu Shiwen — both 29 — were each fined S$52,500 (RM166,500) and sentenced to one week in jail yesterday.
The pair pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed commercial breeding business and keeping multiple cats for sale without the required permits.
The court heard that Wen, a Singaporean, and Qiu, a Chinese national and permanent resident, had imported five adult ragdolls — one male and four females — in 2021 after deciding that Singapore’s supply of the breed was “of poor quality”.
Between May 2022 and May 2023, they produced 30 kittens across six litters, despite being fully aware the practice was illegal.
Eight kittens were sold for prices ranging from S$4,500 to S$6,500, bringing in S$46,300.
Court documents showed the couple advertised their animals online, offering three tiers of ragdolls from “pet level” to “supreme show level”, with the most expensive commanding up to S$7,000.
Their breeding scheme carried on for months even after they had been explicitly warned by the authorities.
In May 2022, Wen contacted the National Parks Board (NParks) to ask about licensing requirements and was told that commercial pet breeding could be carried out only on licensed farms. He submitted a pet shop licence application on June 1, 2022.
By then, however, the Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS) had already received feedback that the couple were breeding cats at home.
Both were fined S$300 in September 2022 for keeping unlicensed animals.
Wen received his pet shop licence two days later — but it allowed only the sale of cats sourced from AVS-licensed farms or approved suppliers.
A day after approval, Wen sought an exemption to sell 11 kittens they had already bred, but the request was rejected, and he was instructed to rehome them among “family and friends”.
Despite the warning, AVS was tipped off again in January 2023. Inspections in June led to seven cats being seized, and another inspection in August uncovered 14 more, bringing the total seized to 21.
Prosecutors described the case as “one of the most egregious instances of unlicensed cats discovered by NParks”, underscoring the scale and deliberate nature of the illegal operation.
The incident is the second major animal-related case to surface in the same week.
On November 19, The Straits Times reported that Julia Nicole Moss, 50, was fined S$21,500 after authorities found 78 poodles and a golden retriever living in her home — more than 26 times the legal limit of three dogs.
None of the 79 animals were licensed, and only three were later returned to her after she obtained the correct permits.