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Tight quarters, ticking clock: Local animal shelters face expiring tenancies – again

Potential relocations, stringent land-zoning laws and competition for space put animal shelters in a state of limbo

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Benicia Tan &

Srinidhi Ragavendran

Published Fri, Jun 7, 2024 · 03:00 PM
    • Harry is a nine-year-old Singapore special now housed at Causes for Animals (Singapore), one of the animal shelters at The Animal Lodge. With the tenancies for the animal shelters there expiring, these tenants are anxious about their future.
    • Pippin, a rescue cat from Mettacats & Dogs Sanctuary, an animal shelter at The Animal Lodge.
    • The Animal Lodge in Sungei Tengah is a facility built by AVS and JTC. It has 20 two-storey blocks and 112 units.
    • Dashi (left) and Ah Heng are Singapore specials that were rescued together. They now share a kennel at SOSD at The Animal Lodge.
    • Thousands of animals are housed at The Animal Lodge. Its tenants are now anxious that their tenancy, which expires in December 2026, may not be renewed.
    • There are about 60 dogs at SOSD’s facility at The Animal Lodge at any time.
    • The Animal Lodge in Sungei Tengah is a facility built by AVS and JTC, with 20 two-storey blocks and 112 units.
    • Two Singapore special rescues, Sandy (left) and Courtney, in their kennel at Causes for Animals Singapore.
    • Harry is a nine-year-old Singapore special now housed at Causes for Animals (Singapore), one of the animal shelters at The Animal Lodge. With the tenancies for the animal shelters there expiring, these tenants are anxious about their future. PHOTO: SRINIDHI RAGAVENDRAN, BT
    • Pippin, a rescue cat from Mettacats & Dogs Sanctuary, an animal shelter at The Animal Lodge. PHOTO: SRINIDHI RAGAVENDRAN, BT
    • The Animal Lodge in Sungei Tengah is a facility built by AVS and JTC. It has 20 two-storey blocks and 112 units. PHOTO: BENICIA TAN, BT
    • Dashi (left) and Ah Heng are Singapore specials that were rescued together. They now share a kennel at SOSD at The Animal Lodge. PHOTO: BENICIA TAN, BT
    • Thousands of animals are housed at The Animal Lodge. Its tenants are now anxious that their tenancy, which expires in December 2026, may not be renewed. PHOTO: BENICIA TAN, BT
    • There are about 60 dogs at SOSD’s facility at The Animal Lodge at any time. PHOTO: BENICIA TAN, BT
    • The Animal Lodge in Sungei Tengah is a facility built by AVS and JTC, with 20 two-storey blocks and 112 units. PHOTO: BENICIA TAN, BT
    • Two Singapore special rescues, Sandy (left) and Courtney, in their kennel at Causes for Animals Singapore. PHOTO: SRINIDHI RAGAVENDRAN, BT

    CAUSES for Animals (Singapore), a local animal welfare group, used to occupy a plot of farmland the size of a basketball court in Seletar.

    In 2019, the National Parks Board told the group that it could use the space for just two years more. The area around its farmland plot was up for redevelopment, so the group could choose to be relocated to Sungei Tengah in 2021.

    Causes for Animals agreed to move. The catch was that the new digs were just a little over half the size of its old place – a concrete cube of space, in sharp contrast to the sprawling greenery around its previous home. As its fundraising coordinator, Christine Bernadette, puts it: “It was like you went from a landed property to a studio apartment.”

    BrunchAnimalsAgriculture/FarmingSingapore urban planninggovernment tender

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