It has been revealed that 37 percent of the cats at the government animal shelter in Hulhumale' died in one month.

The Feline Welfare Organisation (FWO) was entrusted with the management of the shelter with a one-year contract on September 15.

Five organisations visited the shelter to assess its situation. They are the Zoophilist Society of Maldives, Care for Paws, Welfare for Island Cats and Nine Lives Maldives.

Their assessment report raised serious concerns about the facility.

When the FWO took over, 127 cats were on the property and eight more were taken in October. But 51 or 37 percent of the cats have now died.

Neither the Animal Welfare Ministry nor the site volunteers could explain why the cats died, citing the spread of the disease as the only reason.

According to the report, sick cats and healthy cats were not separated while the attending physician only had second-degree antibiotics.

The government has not commented. Recently, there were concerns as hundreds of stray cats in Male' went missing without an explanation.