A pet hotel sounds like a place where cats, dogs, and a few lucky rabbits go to get away from the hustle and bustle of their owner’s living room for a few days, so they can finally sleep on the bed and chew on anything they want.
But in reality, it’s an upscale facility where owners leave their pets when they go abroad.
Of course, when you leave your pet at such a facility, where you’re usually paying top dollar, you’ll have two basic expectations:
- That the staff know what they’re doing
- That your pets will be well taken care of
Unfortunately for some owners who left their pets at the Platinum Dogs Club, their pets weren’t only neglected, but ended up dying as well.
Cremated Dog to Hide Evidence
The owner of Platinum Dogs Club, Charlotte Liew, has had a long history of sketchy behaviour.
One particularly egregious incident involved the cremation of a deceased dog under her care in 2018.
On 14 Dec that year, Ms Mao Yanchai visited the hotel, hoping to leave her seven-year-old Shetland sheepdog, Prince, there for nearly a month while she went abroad.
Ms Mao arranged for Prince to stay in a private room and be fed twice a day, paying $945 to Liew.
She was satisfied with the conditions of the hotel and was told that an employee would always be present at the hotel, which would also be fully air-conditioned.
So, she left Prince at the hotel on 16 Dec, intending to pick it up on 22 Jan.
Unfortunately, the dog died under Liew’s care, though it’s not known how.
Liew told Ms Mao that officers from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) had raided the hotel and taken away some unlicensed dogs.
At the time, the AVA was investigating Liew for not registering her hotel as a business entity.
Ms Mao was suspicious, however, telling Liew that her dog was licensed. At that point, Liew stopped replying to Ms Mao and ignored her calls.
It turns out that Liew had hired a company, Mobile Pet Cremation, to cremate Prince, claiming the carcass was that of another dog named Crayon.
Liew would later claim that Prince was bitten to death by another dog in the hotel, but since she cremated Prince, there was no evidence to support this claim.
When she returned to Singapore, poor Ms Mao begged on her knees for Liew to reveal Prince’s whereabouts, not knowing that her dog had died. She organised a search for Prince, along with other members of the public.
Another Death
A Jack Russel named QQ also ended up dying under Liew’s care that some month.
QQ’s owner had provided Liew with a special low-fat kibble, informing her that QQ could only consume this as she had acute pancreatitis.
But QQ was given unsuitable kibble as well during her stay.
Sadly, the day before she was due to be picked up, Liew sent a video to QQ’s owner, showing the dog lying on the floor unresponsive. She looked skinny, had abrasions on its inner thigh, and had faeces and urine all over her body.
Liew brought QQ to the vet, as requested by the owner, but left immediately after dropping the dog off. QQ died shortly afterwards.
Liew also failed to recover another missing dog who ran out of the premises on 30 Dec that year when she opened the gate.
Unleashed Pets Roaming Around, Faeces & Urine Everywhere
After receiving numerous complaints, the AVA officers finally visited the pet hotel, but nobody answered the door.
With permission from the landlord, they entered the premises and saw 12 dogs and one rabbit there, some leashed, others roaming around freely.
There were also faeces and urine all over the three floors of the hotel.
Some dogs there had no access to water.
Jailed for Two Weeks, Fined $35,700
Yesterday (31 Aug), Liew was fined $35,700 and sentenced to two weeks in prison.
She pleaded guilty to her multiple charges, including:
- obstructing the course of justice by cremating the carcass of a Shetland sheepdog
- breaching her duty of care as an animal owner under the Animal and Birds Act
- giving false information to a public servant
The 33-year-old was also, thankfully, banned from running an animal-related business for 12 months.
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