In a span of a week, the news reported the horrific deaths of two beloved community cats in Singapore, and upon further inspection, it is due to the gruesome abuse and harm that was inflicted upon them.

Earlier this year, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals called for stronger animal protection laws and enforcement as the number of confirmed reports of animal cruelty and welfare concerns hit a 12-year high, with reports stating over 2,000 animals being victims, with 60.7% of them being cats.

On The Hot Seat, Hongbing Jeong speaks to James Gomez, Senior Associate at Edmond Pereira Law Corporation and Kalaivanan Balakrishnan, CEO of Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES), in order to find out if Singapore's laws is sufficient to protect stray animals from abuse or do Singaporeans have a moral responsibility to do so?