The Cat Museum is forced to downsize, leaving its orphan cats homeless by end September.

Due to an enforcement notice by Ministry of National Development, Singapore’s only cat museum will have to operate on one floor by end September.
Sheryl Lau 07 September 2017

(Photo credit: @catmuseumsg)

Lion City Kitty™—The Cat Museum, Muses & Mansion is a volunteer-run project founded by former radio broadcaster, Jessica Seet. Opened in 2014, it is a three-storey establishment that resides at Purvis Street and provides a home for abandoned cats and kittens which are also up for adoption. It is also the only cat museum in Singapore.

Unfortunately, due to an enforcement notice issued on 3 August by Minister for National Development (MND), Mr Lawrence Wong, the cat museum in Singapore is required to operate only on the first floor (#02-02) by the end of September. This leaves some of the cats homeless due to the lack of space.  

The first floor (#02-02) of the shop house features feline-related artworks around the globe, while the Muses gallery on the second floor (#03-01) is designed like a home where visitors can interact and adopt the kittens. The mansion on the top floor (#04-01) is home to nine street resident cats and the area includes a variety of toys and scratching posts to keep the cats entertained.

MND was concerned by the collection of fees on the third and fourth floors, which were approved for residential purposes, while the second floor is the only one approved for commercial use.

In her response to MND, Jessica Seet said in a press release that money has never been collected at the entrance tickets to the third floor, and ticket proofs at the door are just to ensure that they are visitors who are invited to meet and adopt the cats and not just members of the public.

Although the appeal to continue the use of the second floor (#03-01) as a museum was rejected by the Minister, she has made bigger plans to help these cats. In 2018, she intends to find a more spacious area to permanently house the cats and a well-equipped nursery for the neo-natal kittens, as well as a proper infrastructure to educate the public on cat adoption.

“Our mission of ‘Sharing Love, Saving Lives’ has seen the support of over 50,000 visitors from around the world who learn all about cats, the Singapore Hiss-story, stories from around the world and more. 300 strays have found homes and nothing is going to stop us now,” says Jessica.

Volunteers have been actively finding new homes for these cats and Jessica has started a fundraising campaign that will go on for the next three weekends where visits to the museum will cost visitors a premium admission fee of up to $20. However, visitors are strongly encouraged to adopt the kittens as well.

If you’re interested to lend a hand, you can bring home a furry one to care for life or make a donation at https://give.asia/story/save_the_orphan_baby_kittens.


You can read more about The Cat Museum’s press release and MND’s enforcement notice here.

Update: On 8 September, MND clarified on their Facebook page that they did not evict Ms Seet from the premise. Instead, it was the landlord that decided not to renew her lease for the third and fourth storey when expires in end September. MND also offered to help look for an alternative space and speak with the landlord to give her more time. Read more about MND's response here.