SINGAPORE, Sept. 24 -- A 37-year-old man has been jailed for 16 weeks after 71 cats were left in a Bukit Panjang public housing flat in severely unsanitary conditions for nearly two years, during which nine died.

According to CNA, Muhammad Khairul Naim Zainol was also barred from owning animals for 12 months after pleading guilty to 24 charges under Singapore's Animals and Birds Act, with another 47 charges taken into consideration.

Khairul and his then-wife, Nurul Nadiah Noor Mohamed, had acquired several cats after buying the flat in 2018, but the unsterilised animals bred rapidly.

The couple moved out around April 2022, while electricity and water supplies to the unit were later cut over unpaid utility bills.

The cats' condition ca...