From beloved pet to latest Yishun cat killer victim
Yesterday's dead cat in Yishun drain was new mother to five kittens
For the past two months, Meezus would walk to a nearby void deck to meet another cat, every morning and night.
Yesterday morning, the Ragdoll-Burmese crossbreed - named after Kanye West's 2013 album Yeezus - never made it home.
The grey-and-white cat with a yellow collar was found dead in a drain near Block 361, Yishun Ring Road.
To make things even more tragic, Meezus was the mother of five five-month-old kittens.
Ms Siti Salwa, 26, whose two younger sisters owned Meezus, told The New Paper yesterday: "I didn't believe it when I first found out.
"The cat belonged to my two younger sisters. Meezus would stand at the door and watch them leave for work every morning. One of them is crying to sleep as we speak."
Ms Salwa's sisters, who are 20 and 24, declined to speak with The New Paper as they were too distraught over the death of their feline friend.
FAMILY
Meezus had been with the family for more than a year, said Ms Salwa.
The feline is believed to be the latest victim in a series of cat abuse cases in the area.
Since September last year, 18 cats - mostly strays, not including Meezus - have been found dead in Yishun.
Meezus is the second pet cat to be killed, said Mr Louis Ng, Member of Parliament for Nee Soon.
The cat's body was spotted by Ms Salwa's cousins Putri Nur Zunaikah, nine, and Fakhri Zulhilmi, 13. They live together in the same executive maisonette in Yishun Ring Road.
Zuinaikah and Zulhilmi were on their way home from a nearby clinic with their domestic helper when they passed a crowd at a drain beside their block.
To their horror, the siblings realised the crowd was staring at Meezus' carcass.
They ran home and told Ms Salwa.
Said Zulhilmi: "I was very shocked. We cared for it for a few months before we passed it to our cousins."
Ms Salwa, who was on leave from her job in a shipyard, said: "By the time I rushed out, people from the town council had already put Meezus in a plastic bag."
Meezus' sudden death brought the issue of cat deaths closer to home for Ms Salwa and her family.
"I knew about the spate of cat deaths in the recent months, but I thought it affected only the other parts of Yishun," Ms Salwa said.
Referring to alleged cat killer Lee Wai Leong, 40, who was granted bail of $10,000 yesterday, she added: "It can't be him since he was in court in the morning, right?"
About two months ago, Meezus would leave her home every morning and night.
She would often be spotted hanging out with another cat at a nearby void deck - unusual as the pet cat was usually wary of other cats.
Ms Salwa said: "We let Meezus go because it knew how to come back home and there was no trouble before.
"Even when we (taped up the bottom half of the door grilles) and shut all windows, Meezus would still climb up the grilles to get out of the house."
After the tragedy yesterday, Ms Salwa and her family, who have three of Meezus' five kittens, are doubly cautious.
"We are definitely keeping (Meezus' three) kittens at home and never letting them out," she said.
Ms Salwa's aunt adopted the other two kittens.
MP Louis Ng wants to raise stakes for cat hunters
Every cat that MP Louis Ng sees in Yishun further cements his conviction to get to the root of the series of cat deaths.
"As I'm talking to you, there is a cat at Nee Soon looking at me right now," said Mr Ng, the MP for Nee Soon.
Meezus, a female Ragdoll-Burmese crossbreed, was found dead in a Yishun drain yesterday. She is the second pet cat out of the now-19 cat deaths in Yishun.
"The cats are defenceless and voiceless," said Mr Ng.
Referring to alleged cat killer Lee Wai Leong, 40, who was granted bail yesterday, Mr Ng said: "There were always two different kinds of cat deaths. Some were thrown down the building while the rest were strangled or mutilated.
"I do think there are more suspects, which explains why the community has been continuing with their patrols."
Cat deaths are an issuein other neighbourhoods too, Mr Ng said.
He said: "The difference is that we are creating awareness and we have a team of volunteers. We want to raise the stakes for those still on the hunt for cats."
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