In 1975, after a period working in Singapore, Tommy and Hal Meadow returned to the United States with three ticked tabby cats they had discovered a year earlier on the street. These three cats, Tess, Tickle and Puss, a pair of male and female kittens from the same litter and another young female, are considered the founding cats of the “Singapura” breed, named after the traditional name of the city of Singapore, which means “city of the lion” in Malay.
In 1981, a breeder visited Singapore and stumbled across a cat resembling the Singapura except for the tail: this cat was imported to the USA and included in the breeding program.
Exports of Singapore cats are now controlled.
In 1987, on a trip to search for cats in Singapore, American breeder Jerry Mayes discovered import papers revealing that the three founding cats had been imported to Singapore from the USA in 1974. This went relatively unnoticed until 1990, when the Singapore Tourist and Promotion Board (STPB) began a campaign to establish Singapura as the national mascot. Journalist Sandra Davie was informed of the subterfuge and published an article in The Straits Times newspaper.
The Cat Fancier Association (CFA) conducts an investigation at the request of the Singapura breed club. During the investigation, Hal Meadow states that the three founding cats are the grandsons of four local cats he had brought back to the U.S. during an awkward business trip to Singapore in 1971, which contradicts Meadow's initial claim that the three cats came from Singapore. Apparently, Tommy Meadow lied in order to conceal his secret trip. CFA finds no evidence of concealment and maintains Singapura's natural breed status. Joan Miller of CFA states that “whether they bred on the streets of Singapore or in Michigan doesn't really matter”, and asserts that the fourth founding cat, the one recovered in 1981, assured Singapura's natural breed status, even though the other three founding cats were not legitimately Singapore cats. |
English (United Kingdom)