Did you know that HDB residents are legally only allowed to keep one dog of an approved breed in each unit?
Even in private residential premises, only a maximum of three dogs is permitted, as long as they are non-commercial units.
Despite these restrictions, one woman went a little above the limit, leading to the death of many of her dogs.
And by a little over the limit, I mean 20 dogs in one house.
Woman Caught Keeping 16 Dogs Without Licence
It all started in April 2016, when a member of the public complained to the then-Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) that there were about 20 dogs in a unit at 4 Starlight Road.
When AVA officers visited the unit, the owner, 49-year-old Leow Suat Hong, said her house was too dirty and asked officers to come on another day.
The officers came back to the house in Feb and March that year, but were refused entry by Leow. Instead, she brought the 11 dogs to the front gate and handed them over to the officers for inspection.
Since she was not allowed to keep more than three licensed dogs, officers instructed her to rehome the other dogs, and ensure that they were licensed by their new owners.
So, in September that year, Leow moved her dogs to Kennel 11 at The Pet Hotel in Pasir Ris Farmway 2, a boarding facility.
However, just a month later, Leow has some troubling news for AVA: there was an outbreak of parvovirus at the kennel, and the dogs were “dying one by one”.
Parvovirus is a contagious virus that mainly infects dogs. Vaccines can prevent infection, but in untreated cases, mortality can reach 91%. Treatment often involves veterinary hospitalization.
When AVA officers responded to Leow’s call and inspected the kennel, they found that 52 of the Bichon-Maltese dogs homed there belonged to Leow, and that many of them were infected with the parvovirus.
It turns out that Leow knew about at least one dog showing signs of infection earlier on, but had not taken it to the vet for treatment.
By then the virus had spread, and many other dogs had fallen sick. When she brought a few of them to the vet, she was told to put them down, as they were suffering from parvovirus, which is incurable.
The dog, along with 23 others owned by Leow, ended up dying from the virus. 14 of them were dead when officers turned up, and another ten carcasses were disposed of by Leow before they arrived.
Case of Being Overwhelmed, Not Abuse
Leow was fined S$12,600 yesterday (5 Aug) for pet negligence and keeping 16 dogs without a license, after pleading guilty to 17 charges.
Another 26 charges were taken into consideration. 10 charges were withdrawn.
As part of her sentence, Leow was also banned from owning pets for six months.
However, the prosecution noted that this was not a case of abuse, but of “being very overwhelmed and having to deal with so many animals under your care”.
While she’ll be allowed to pay her fine in instalments, Leow was ordered to rehome all her remaining dogs.
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Featured Image: Facebook (Voices for Animals)
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