A married couple who illegally bred ragdoll cats at home and sold the kittens for thousands of dollars have been fined and sentenced to jail in what authorities described as one of the most serious cases of unlicensed pet breeding uncovered in recent years.
According to The Straits Times, 29-year-olds Wen Tianhao and his wife, Qiu Shiwen, were each fined S$52,500 (RM166,500) and handed a one-week jail sentence after pleading guilty to operating an unlicensed commercial breeding business and keeping multiple cats for sale without the necessary permits.
The court heard that Wen, a Singaporean, and Qiu, a Chinese national with permanent resident status, imported five adult ragdoll cats — one male and four females — in 2021 after deciding local supplies were “of poor quality”. Between May 2022 and May 2023, they bred 30 kittens across six litters, fully aware that their activities were illegal.
Eight kittens were sold for between S$4,500 and S$6,500, generating S$46,300 in profits. Court documents revealed the couple advertised their cats online, promoting three tiers of ragdolls ranging from “pet level” to “supreme show level”, with top-tier kittens priced as high as S$7,000.
Despite having contacted the National Parks Board (NParks) in May 2022 to ask about licensing requirements — and being clearly informed that commercial breeding was permitted only on licensed farms — the illegal operation continued. Wen applied for a pet shop licence on June 1, 2022, but by that time, the Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS) had already received complaints regarding their breeding practices.
The couple were fined S$300 each in September 2022 for keeping unlicensed animals. Wen was granted a pet shop licence two days later, but it permitted only the sale of cats from AVS-approved sources. He subsequently attempted to seek an exemption to sell 11 kittens they had already bred, but this was rejected, and he was instructed to rehome them.
Despite the warning, AVS was alerted again in January 2023. Inspections conducted in June led to the seizure of seven cats, followed by another 14 in August, bringing the total to 21. Prosecutors described the case as “one of the most egregious instances of unlicensed cat breeding discovered by NParks”, highlighting its scale and the couple’s deliberate non-compliance.
This incident marks the second major animal welfare case reported within the same week. On November 19, The Straits Times reported that 50-year-old Julia Nicole Moss was fined S$21,500 after 78 poodles and one golden retriever were found in her home — exceeding the legal limit of three dogs. None of the animals were licensed, and only three were eventually returned to her after she obtained the necessary documentation.
