UPDATE: Thai police are now getting involved after animal rights organization Watchdog Thailand filed a report against Kitties & Bears Café.
Two weeks in jail and a tsunami of public damnation hasn’t seemed to deter Jonathan Tan Wei-De, the man who ran the now-defunct Cuddles Cat Cafe.
Earlier this year, the 33-year-old was sentenced to two weeks in jail and a $3,500 fine for failing to comply with licensing conditions by not keeping the cats in his cafe in good health. This, on top of falsifying cat health records sent to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority and not ensuring that they were free of toxoplasmosis, a disease that can infect both animals and humans. Seven out of the 20 cats Cuddles Cat Cafe purchased died under the cafe’s watch, and it was finally shuttered in December 2014.
But apparently, it seems Tan is back in business once again, this time in Bangkok. Once again, his alleged establishment — called Kitties and Bears Café — is being slammed for not maintaining the health and welfare of its animals. Call it déjà vu if you will.
A Thai netizen has now claimed that Tan fled Singapore with a loan (and his surviving cats) and flew to Bangkok to start a new pet cafe. Unfortunately, death, disease, and neglect seemed to have followed as well. This is what the dogs and cats under Tan’s care suffered, according to the exposé.
- No less than seven to eight dogs have died in a span of a month due to various illnesses and infections.
- Tan refuses to bring his animals to critical veterinary checkups and treatment, despite repeated advice from his staff and other specialists.
- Tan doesn’t keep the sick animals separate from the healthy ones, allowing diseases to spread.
- A kitten died because Tan let customers play with it at a very early age.
- A mother cat gave birth to a sick litter of kittens because Tan refused to bring it for medical treatment during its pregnancy.
“I am posting this as I feel very sorry for how the poor animals are being treated there and demand to see a change,” the Thai man wrote.
“I am not falsely accusing the owner and I have proof for every accusation I have made above”.
From pictures and videos posted on the Kitties & Bears Cafe’s Facebook page, however, all seems to be fine and dandy. But then again, the troubled Cuddles Cat Cafe also portrayed that image before its staff exposed Tan’s shady deeds.
We will be reaching out to the whistleblower for more information.
