Suspected cat killer caught on camera by kitty detectives

Air-con technician is believed to have killed 10 cats in Old Airport Road area
By Tanya Fong
Straits Times, 14 August 2006

BENT on nabbing what they believed was a serial cat killer in the Old Airport Road area, a group of cat lovers turned sleuths and tracked down a suspected animal abuser to his workplace. He was arrested by the police.

After the grisly remains of 10 cats were found in the neighbourhood over the past five months by cleaners, animal lovers started weekend patrols.

The eight of them handed out thousands of 'wanted' posters and convinced the town council to hook up six closed-circuit TV cameras to zoom in on a multi-storey carpark where several of the mangled bodies were found.

Their efforts paid off when the suspected abuser - a 28-year-old air-con technician - was arrested by the police on Aug 2, a day after another cat was found dead in the carpark in Block 93A Jalan Dua.

Its mangled, bloody body was left in a corner of the sixth storey of the Housing Board carpark.
Mr Ishak Puteh, 42, a cleaner, called one of the 'kitty abuse detectives' when he found the dead cat on Aug 1 at about 9.30am.

Incidentally, it was found in a spot where one of the cameras had been installed by the cat lovers.

Footage of a man swinging a cat from a lasso-like rope tied to its neck was captured.
The cleaner alerted Miss Sandy Lim, who spotted a blue-and-white van in the footage.

The education consultant scoured the neighbourhood, found the van and tailed the man to his workplace in Eunos, where he was later arrested by the police. Police said he has been remanded at the Institute of Mental Health.

Mr Ishak said it was the 10th cat he had found dead since February.

'I am relieved someone has been arrested,' he said. 'It only occurred to me that someone must have killed the cats when I found three kittens tied together with a metal cable. They were dumped in a bin in the carpark.

'When the women approached me to help find the killer, I was more than happy to help.'
That was in April.

The cat lovers got into action following word from a friend.

Miss Rebecca Ng, 34, a teacher in a special school who lives nearby, was the first to hear about the killings. Outraged, she told her friends who decided to put a stop to it.

They installed hidden cameras not only in Block 93A but the carpark in Block 49A as well because bloodstains were found there too. They got permission from the town council. The town council's property manager, Mr Lim Kian Chong, 46, said: 'This is the first time I have received such a request. But the problem was getting worse. Many of the cleaners complained about the mess of blood they had to clear.'

Miss Ng said: 'When we started out, we did not plan to go so far. But as the weeks passed, and we saw more and more bloodstains showing up in the area, we became determined to catch the person responsible for torturing the cats.'

One of the volunteers, Miss Lynn Lam, 33, collected about $1,200 to buy two of the cameras and a recorder. The other cameras were their own.

The Cat Welfare Society offered a $1,000 reward for anyone who witnessed any cat being tortured or killed.

Group member Fiona Yuen, 32, a designer, said: 'From the numerous walkabouts, we found out many of the residents - who are elderly - did not think they needed to call the police if they witnessed someone torturing an animal.'

Anyone found guilty of animal cruelty can be fined up to $10,000, or jailed for up to 12 months, or both.

The Bedok serial cat torturer, David Hooi Yin Weng, was jailed for three months in March for hitting a kitten which had to be put down.

Late last month, he was hauled up again, this time in the new Community Court, where he pleaded guilty to abusing a four-month-old stray.

Animal lovers helped to nail him too.

The executive officer of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Ms Deirdre Moss, said: 'It is a major accomplishment because it shows the community is taking a proactive approach in caring for and protecting animals.'


SCENE OF THE CRIME: The grisly remains of cats, like this one, were found in the area over five months, which prompted animal lovers to start weekend patrols, hand out 'wanted' posters and hook up closed-circuit TV cameras.