About 41,000 pet cats licensed since pet cat licensing scheme was rolled out in September 2024 under the Cat Management Framework

Singapore, 1 September 2025 – The Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS), a cluster of the National Parks Board (NParks), rolled out the pet cat licensing scheme and programmes for pet and community cats under the Cat Management Framework on 1 September 2024. Under the framework, it is mandatory for all pet cats to be microchipped and licensed for traceability, which would allow AVS to hold cat owners more accountable for keeping their cats responsibly. As of end August 2025, about 41,000 pet cats have been licensed. Of these, about 95% of the cats were sterilised. Over 41,500 people have completed the online pet ownership course, which is mandatory for first time cat licence applicants . 

Since 2024, more than 8,000 pet cats have been microchipped at 45 free microchipping and licensing drives organised by AVS at locations island-wide to support cat owners. An additional 500 pet cats have also been microchipped at similar sessions held in collaboration with veterinary clinics. Separately, over 1,300 pet cats from lower-income households have been sterilised and microchipped for free under AVS’ Pet Cat Sterilisation Support (PCSS) programme, which was launched on 1 September 2024. For community cats, over 1,600 community cats have gone through the Trap-Neuter-Rehome/Release-Manage (TNRM) programme as of end February 2025 . TNRM is a holistic, humane, and science-based approach to manage the community cat population nation-wide. 

Mr Alvin Tan, Minister of State for National Development and Trade and Industry, said: “We have made significant progress since we launched the Cat Management Framework a year ago to enhance the health and welfare of our cats. The response thus far has been encouraging, and we will continue to work with the community to support cat owners, and care for our community cats. I would like to thank all our volunteers, including students and veterinarians, as well as our animal welfare group partners including the Cat Welfare Society, and the Singapore Veterinary Association who have worked closely with AVS on these efforts.”

Moving forward, AVS’ efforts will be more targeted to provide support for cat owners from lower-income households  through free microchipping drives and the PCSS programme. Outreach and engagement activities such as roadshows will also be held at areas where we have received higher proportion of cat-related feedback. 

The PCSS programme, which supports lower-income households with free sterilisation and microchipping, will help increase sterilisation rates. Sterilisation offers health benefits for these cats such as reducing the risks of certain cancers and preventing womb infections. Sterilisation also helps address downstream animal welfare issues and disamenities arising from the overpopulation of pet cats.

In conjunction with the one-year anniversary of the Cat Management Framework, AVS is rolling out a series of events and activities in September. Under ‘Cat-ember’, the public can look forward to a free seminar on cat welfare and behaviour on 10 September, Cat-ember Fest at Boon Lay Community Club on 13-14 September, and roving exhibitions and special programmes at community spaces and selected public libraries, the latter in partnership with the National Library Board. 

The mandatory pet cat licensing scheme enhances traceability by providing each cat with a unique identification number for the identification and reunification of lost cats and would allow AVS to hold cat owners more accountable for keeping their cats responsibly. Pet cat licensing is free during the transition period that ends on 31 August 2026 . Owners can keep all their existing pet cats  if they license them within the transition period and are able to ensure that the cats’ health and welfare are taken care of. It will be an offence to keep unlicensed pet cats from 1 September 2026 onwards under the Animals and Birds Act.

As part of the cat-keeping rules, owners will need to ensure that their cats are kept in a safe environment and take reasonable steps to protect their cats from hazards, such as installing mesh or grilles to prevent the cats from roaming freely or falling from height. When in public, cat owners will need to ensure that their cats are kept under physical control (i.e., not allowed to freely roam), such as by placing their cat in a carrier or using a harness. More information on the framework can be found at https://go.gov.sg/cat-framework and details on the licensing process and requirements are available at https://go.gov.sg/cat-licensing.