Temple Dog’s Cage Expanded After Complaints; Netizen Still Feel It’s Insufficient

Last week, a deep, booming voice could be heard all across Singapore saying “Oh my god!”.

Frightened residents thought it was aliens who had visited our planet and were shocked to see how much we messed it up.

But the three words actually came from pet lovers in the country when they learned that a temple here had allegedly been keeping a dog at its premises in a cage.

If you were busy watching the second season of Into the Night on Netflix last week, here’s a brief recap of what happened:

• A woman posted on Facebook about a caged dog in Sheng Hong Temple, located in Pandan Gardens
• She said the dog’s living conditions are deplorable, and shared pictures to prove it
• A welfare group on Facebook called Chained Dog Awareness Singapore shared the woman’s post
• Netizens became outraged and called for the authorities to take action
• The temple responded, saying the allegations are “false”, and threatened to sue the woman and the welfare group

Whether the allegations about the dog’s living conditions are true or not, it’s hard to deny that you keep your dog in a cage, when everyone has visual evidence of that:

But it appears that the temple has come up with a solution to this issue: providing a larger cage for the dog.

Larger, Cleaner Dog Cage

An update on the situation was provided by the same woman who brought the incident to light, Facebook user Melody Yap.

As Yap discovered, the temple had expanded June’s cage, which also looks cleaner than it did before.

But Yap, and many netizens, feel that this is insufficient.

See, what netizens wanted was for June to be released so someone could rehome her.

“Ultimately, it is my wish that June can be freed from this situation and have a new lease of life to enjoy her remaining years,” Yap wrote.

Yap spoke to the temple’s representatives about releasing the dog, but her plea was rejected.

Temple Claims Dog is Only Freed at Night; Netizen Finds Evidence to the Contrary 

In its 18 Sep statement, issued in response to the allegations, Sheng Hong Temple made a few claims:

• that June was caged to prevent her from potentially harming devotees
• that she was only caged in the day, and released at night once the main gate is closed

However, when Yap visited the temple on two occasions in the night, she found that June was still in her cage.

What’s more, Yap said June was friendly to her even though she was a stranger, which in her mind, dispelled notions of the dog being aggressive and a threat to devotees.

“June is still not treated the way she should be. She should be granted the freedom that was wrongly taken away from her since birth; she shouldn’t be living in captivity,” Yap said.

“Much still needs to be done for June, and I truly hope the temple will consider releasing her to us. Together with fellow animal volunteers, I am confident we will be able to find her a loving home and give her a comfortable roof over her head.”

Here’s Yap’s full post:

There has been no statement from the temple since its Facebook post on 20 Sep.

Read Also: 

• TTSH Converts Carpark into Makeshift Screening Space
• 1,504 COVID-19 Cases Reported on 23 Sep; 2 COVID-19 Deaths Reported

Featured Image: Facebook (Melody Yap)