Man fined $4,800 for abandoning dog, keeping unlicensed dogs
A man who abandoned a dog in the Ubi industrial area – the second such case that the court has heard – was fined a total of $4,800 in the State Courtson Thursday (1 June).
Joseph Tang Yew Liang, 33, pleaded guilty to one charge of abandoning Momo, a cream-coloured male mongrel, at the Paya Ubi Industrial Park on 3 November 2016. He was fined $4,000 for this offence.
He was also fined $800 for keeping Momo without a valid dog licence. Another charge for keeping a second mongrel dog, Orni, without a valid dog licence was taken into consideration.
Momo, who is now in foster care, was found roaming near a coffeeshop at Block 150 Ubi Avenue 4 a day after it was abandoned. Tang told the court that he knew Momo had been found from an online forum.
Investigations showed that Tang had adopted Mono about a year ago from his former boss who owned a shop at Paya Ubi Industrial Park. He did not obtain a licence for Momo. Tang also had another dog, Orni, in his care.
However, last October, Tang found that he was unable to continue caring for Momo and Orni due to financial constraints. His rental flat lease was also ending. In late October, Tan decided to send Momo and Orni to a boarding house while he sought suitable adopters.
Tang picked up Momo two to three days later, while leaving Orni at the boarding house. On 3 November, Tan left Momo outside his former boss’ shop in Ubi without notifying him.
A person who knew Tan found out what Tan had did and informed the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) that he had found the dog, the AVA’s prosecutor Yap Teck Chua told the court. Momo was found unharmed.
Yap sought a fine of at least $5,000, saying that Momo, a domesticated dog, had been left to fend for itself. Conceding that the dog was well cared for under Tan, Yap said that Momo was nevertheless “subject to a rough environment” different from what it had always known. Momo was also subject to the risk of being attacked by feral dogs or run over by vehicles.
Yap added that the penalty served to deter others from the same act as abandonment cases were hard to detect.
Tang is the second person in Singapore to have been taken to court for abandoning an animal under the Animals and Birds Act. The first case involved the owner of a dog grooming school, Low Chong Kiat, who abandoned 18 dogs across Singapore in March last year. Low was jailed six weeks for his actions.
Tang, who was unrepresented in court, said in mitigation that he had first brought Momo home as he pitied the dog but had to let it go due to financial problems. He said that he tried asking the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) to take in Momo but the voluntary welfare organisation (VWO) declined, stating that he would have to find other adopters.
When asked by District Judge May Mesenas if he had tried contacting other VWOs, Tang claimed that he was “not aware” of them and did not know “who to approach”.
In delivering the sentence, DJ Mesenas noted that Tang had financial troubles and that Momo did not suffer much. She expressed surprise that Tang was not aware that Momo could be housed in other VWOs.
Under the Animals and Birds Act, Tang could have been jailed up to 12 months and/or fined up to $10,000 for animal abandonment as a first-time offender. For keeping an unlicensed dog that is over three months old he could have been fined up to $5,000.
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