Stiffer penalty for repeat animal abusers
By Linette Heng
The New Paper
Monday, Mar 04, 2013
SINGAPORE - Animal abusers, beware.
If you are a repeat offender in wilful or cruelty cases, you may soon be jailed up to three years and fined up to $50,000.
You may also be banned from owning a pet for one year.
Under the current Animals and Birds Act, offenders can be fined up to $10,000 and/or jailed up to one year.
These harsher punishments were recommended by the Animal Welfare Legislation Review Committee and passed on to the Ministry of National Development yesterday.
Review committee chairman Yeo Guat Kwang, who is also a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for National Development and Environment and Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC, said: "It is important to set the maximum higher, so that it will send a clearer signal."
Tiered system
In addition to the higher penalties, there will be a tiered system which differentiates negligent offenders from malicious offenders.
Ms Corinne Fong, the executive director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and review committee member, said: "Not every person falls under the same 'crime'. The current law is very broad and vague, and makes it difficult to prosecute offenders."
For minor offences such as owners who leave their pets to roam when they go on holidays, Ms Veron Lau, president of Cat Welfare Society, suggested a 'summon' system - similar to fines dispensed by the National Environment Agency for litterbugs - to bring more animal abusers to justice.
A spokesman for the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said: "Every animal cruelty and welfare case is unique and the judge will mete out penalties based on the details of each case.
"Over the last three years, six cases were charged in court and the average fine imposed per count of offence charged was $4,250.
"In three of these six cases, the offenders could not pay the fines and, as a consequence, were jailed for five to 10 weeks."
Most cases involved pet owners and the pet industry. Complaints include failure to provide reasonable care and improper confinement of animals.
Statistics from the AVA and SPCA showed an increase in the number of animal welfare and abuse cases in the past five years.
The review committee's report also noted that enforcement and regulation is a challenge - very few are willing to testify in court for animal cruelty cases and there is often a lack of direct evidence.
Miss Fong said the SPCA gets many calls about animal abuse, but most callers are not willing to testify.
"Without evidence, there is no bite. Often, the informants are neighbours and they don't want to get into trouble with them (offenders)."
In December, the remains of a dismembered kitten were found outside a flat in Chong Pang. This horrific discovery led to calls for harsher penalties.
Ms Lau said that the authorities are currently following up on a few leads on abandonment and abuse charges.
She said the difficulty in getting people to report or testify could be due to "culture".
"They might feel that they will not be taken seriously," she said.
Animal cruelty cases handled by AVA:
292 in 2007
484 in 2012
Reports received by SPCA:
870 in 2007
1,027 in 2011
Animal abuse cases prosecuted by AVA and police (2007-2012): 13
Fine for animal cruelty (2007-2012): 444
Warning letters: 113
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