The Emotional and Financial Toll on Volunteers Dedicated to Animal Welfare Amid Growing Abandonment Crisis
Jiawen’s voice trembles with grief as she gently caresses Bruce’s head, whispering, “Come find me in your next life; I will be your friend again.” In Rainbow Paradise’s cremation room, the air is thick with sorrow. Bruce, a once-fearful tuxedo cat, is now lifeless, a victim of the overwhelming crisis at Singapore’s overcrowded animal shelters.
For Jiawen, Bruce’s death holds a deep personal meaning. She had spent months earning his trust, sitting by him until the day he finally leaned into her hand, a moment she will never forget. But his death is just one of many in a system where abandoned animals often outnumber those adopted.
As shelters struggle with overpopulation, many animals spend their lives confined in cages, never knowing the warmth of a loving home. This epidemic is part of a larger societal problem: the growing disregard for animal life in a rapidly advancing Singapore.
In 2023, reports of pet abandonment soared, with cases tripling year-on-year, and animal cruelty incidents reached an 11-year high. The disturbing headlines told stories of brutal abuse, neglect, and abandonment—harsh reminders that as the nation thrives, its voiceless creatures suffer in silence.
Invisible Victims of Urban Growth
Singapore’s urbanisation has led to a disregard for the natural world. Once home to jungles teeming with wildlife, the city-state has cleared vast areas for development, forcing animals like otters and macaques to encroach into human spaces. Instead of fostering peaceful cohabitation, the government often takes an exclusionary approach, with culling operations and relocation programmes that fail to address the root issue.
The pandemic only exacerbated the problem. While pet ownership surged during the lockdown as people sought companionship, many pets were abandoned when the world returned to normal. This disposable attitude towards animals, coupled with an overwhelmed shelter system, has left volunteers like Jiawen bearing the emotional and physical burden of caring for creatures that others cast aside.
Volunteers Facing Unseen Struggles
Jiawen describes the work at her shelter as “like filling a bucket with no bottom.” Volunteers tirelessly clean, feed, and administer medical care to animals, but with every new abandoned pet, the task becomes insurmountable. At her shelter, there are fewer than ten active volunteers looking after over 150 animals, a staggering imbalance that drains both their resources and spirits.
“Sometimes, it’s just two of us managing everything,” Jiawen says, highlighting the immense strain on manpower. Many shelters are situated in remote locations, far from public transport routes, making volunteer recruitment and retention even more difficult.
The financial pressures are also overwhelming. Volunteers like Michele, who has dedicated nearly a decade to rescuing and caring for stray cats, are shouldering huge costs. Michele spends thousands of dollars a month on food, medical care, and transportation, pushing her into debt. Despite offers of financial help, she refuses to accept donations, feeling guilty for burdening others.
The Emotional Cost of Compassion
Despite these challenges, volunteers like Jiawen and Michele continue their work out of sheer determination and love for the animals they care for. Michele’s daily routine, which includes hours of feeding stray cats before dawn, has become a second job, forcing her to forgo full-time employment and sacrifice family time.
Yet the emotional toll is often more crushing than the physical. Michele, whose heart aches with every story of abuse, struggles to sleep at night. “I want to kill the abusers, but I can’t,” she confides, expressing her anger and frustration over the cruelty she witnesses.
As the number of stray animals continues to rise, volunteers are stretched thinner, working long hours in increasingly dire conditions. The physical exhaustion, emotional strain, and financial hardship are pushing many to the brink, but they remain driven by a deep sense of responsibility.
A Call for Change
Singapore’s approach to animal welfare needs to shift from neglect and inconvenience to compassion and responsibility. Animals should not be seen as disposable or as obstacles to progress, but as living beings deserving of respect.
Volunteers like Jiawen and Michele are doing their best, but the burden cannot fall solely on their shoulders. As society progresses, so too should our treatment of the most vulnerable members of our communities—animals. A truly compassionate society must take responsibility for all its inhabitants, human and non-human alike.
It’s time for Singapore to wake up and recognise that kindness doesn’t cost anything, and that a society’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members. If Singapore can lead in innovation, it can lead in humanity as well.
