On Wednesday (July 28), a 69-year-old lady was fined S$5,000 for abandoning her pet poodle in a pink carrying bag at an elevator lobby.
Tan Siew Hoon was also barred for a year from owning any further pets. Miko, a 16-year-old dog, couldn’t open his eyes, had overgrown nails, and was missing all of his teeth since she had neglected him for so long. She stated that after her husband died, she was in no mood to look after Miko, but that she had previously “doted on a lot.” She also claimed that she fed the dog before leaving it in the lift lobby of a public housing building’s void deck level. Tan put the black poodle cross in the carrier bag and left it beside a waste bin in the ground floor lift lobby of a Hougang housing building where she lived on the morning of Oct 15 last year, according to the court. She failed to report the dog’s disappearance and made no attempt to locate it. “It was apparent she intended to abandon it permanently,” National Parks Board prosecutor Packer Mohammad told the court. The dog was reported to the Animal and Veterinary Service the same day. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals rescued it that morning and placed it in foster care.
