SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): A man who sought companionship from community cats after experiencing problems with his then-girlfriend became angry when the cats did not respond to his affection.
He researched online for ways to torture cats and decided on stabbing them.
In less than a year, Ryan Tan Yi Bin stabbed four cats, slammed one against a wall several times and flung another from the 34th floor of a Housing Board block.
On April 10, the 27-year-old man was sentenced to two years and seven months’ jail after pleading guilty to three counts of animal abuse.
He will also be disqualified from owning any animals for a period of 12 months upon his release.
District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz said the heavy sentence reflected Tan’s “deplorable, sadistic and serial abuse” of animals.
“The sentence imposed reflects the court’s condemnation of the accused’s barbaric acts against defenceless creatures and makes plain that such sadism will be met with stern and uncompromising punishment,” said the judge.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Lynda Lee said that Tan, who was then a delivery rider, started having problems with his then girlfriend around August 2024.
He began to seek out community cats for companionship by cycling around to find them.
DPP Lee said Tan soon became disgruntled as not all the cats were receptive to him. He then decided to torture those cats by stabbing them, after researching online for ways to hurt them.
After purchasing a foldable knife with a 10cm blade on Sept 20, 2024, Tan went out the day after and stabbed a ginger and white shorthair cat once in the vicinity of Toa Payoh.
On Sept 22, 2024, Tan went to Block 36 Lorong 5 Toa Payoh, where he stabbed another cat. He then went to Block 200 Toa Payoh North, where he spotted another ginger cat and stabbed it.
Shortly after, Tan spotted a white shorthair cat and stabbed it once in the back, causing it to leap and run away. Unsure if the cat had been injured, he chased after it as he wanted to stab it again.
About six minutes later, Tan found the cat and stabbed it again in its back.
The court heard that Tan later found another cat to target but abandoned his plan after a man shouted at him. He quickly cycled away and disposed of the knife.
The white cat that was stabbed twice was found by a passer-by, who took it to a community clinic run by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. An examination found that one of the stab wounds was about 6.5cm deep and had penetrated its abdominal cavity.
DPP Lee said that on Sept 25, 2024, Tan searched online for cases involving cat abuse and the sentences imposed, to gauge the punishments he might face if caught.
On Oct 6, 2024, he spotted an orange shorthair cat at Block 78 Lorong Limau while he was making food deliveries. He returned to the area at around 2am the next day to look for the cat.
Dressed in a hooded sweatshirt and donning a face mask to avoid being recognised, he took it into the lift of an HDB block.
Video footage played in court showed Tan grabbing the cat with both arms and hoisting it above his head before forcefully throwing it to the floor.
He then kicked and stomped on the cat, which was seen running in circles inside the lift to escape his blows. After the frenzied attack, which lasted more than a minute, the cat lay limp on the floor, but was still alive at that point.
When the lift reached the 34th floor, Tan grabbed the cat by its tail, stepped out and flung it down the block, killing it.
He was arrested later in the day on Oct 7, 2024, and released on bail on Oct 30 that year.
On March 13, 2025, Tan spotted a black and orange cat near Block 15 Toa Payoh Lorong 7 and approached it as he wanted to play with it. He became angry when the cat hissed at him and hid under some shelves of a residential unit on the first floor.
Another video played in court showed him forcefully grabbing the cat by its tail and dragging it out as it yelped repeatedly. Tan then dragged the cat to a corner of a lift lobby before swinging it at a wall head first. He was seen swinging the cat multiple times, with increasing intensity, before walking off nonchalantly.
The court heard that the cat suffered injuries so severe it had to be euthanised.
In mitigation, Tan’s lawyer, Mr Jeeva Joethy, said that this was Tan’s first brush with the law, and he did not have a history of violence against animals.
“He realises he has a problem, and he intends to get help once he is released from prison. He is genuinely remorseful, but he realises he has to pay a price for it,” said Mr Jeeva.
However, the court disagreed with Mr Jeeva’s assessment.
“While he has no antecedents in the sense of prior convictions, this is merely because the law had not yet caught up with him for his earlier misdeeds,” said the judge.
She added that Tan’s offences ranked among the most egregious cases of animal abuse in Singapore.
The National Parks Board (NParks) said in a statement that Tan’s conviction was the highest sentence for a case involving animal cruelty to date.
Ms Jessica Kwok, group director at NParks’ enforcement and investigations unit, said the timely information and evidence provided by members of the public had been key in supporting investigations in Tan’s case.
“As with all investigations, all forms of evidence are crucial to the process, and photographic and/or video-graphic evidence provided by the public will be helpful in supporting investigations,” said Ms Kwok.
Those who want to report suspected cases of animal cruelty or provide evidence to NParks can do so here, or call NParks’ Animal Response Centre on 1800-476-1600. -- The Straits Times/Asia News Network
