AVA may take rottweilers' owner to court
She could be fined up to $50k as they were out unleashed and unmuzzled
By Lim Wei Chean
INSPECTION: AVA officers visited rottweiler owner Madam Kaur's Lengkong Tiga home yesterday. The agency said it had completed investigations on last month's attack. -- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM
AND now there are three. Two of the five Kembangan rottweilers are cooling their paws in a pet hotel.
Their owner sent them there yesterday to comply with an order from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).
The AVA wants Madam Satpal Kaur to give up two of her five dogs. The general rule is that no more than three dogs are allowed on a private property.
But her troubles with the AVA are far from over, in the wake of an incident on Nov 26 in which the five large-breed dogs dashed out and attacked a small-breed Jack Russell terrier being walked by its owner.
Subsequent media reports indicated that the dogs had bitten a person earlier.
Now, Madam Kaur will not only have to find new owners for two of her dogs - or risk their having to be put to sleep - but she could also face a fine of up to $50,000 for allowing all five dogs out unleashed and without muzzles on Nov 26.
VIDEO
Rottweiler attack: AVA to prosecute owner
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A neighbour's warning and two attacks
Aug 17: Semi-retired businessman Foo Seck Siong's letter appeared in The Straits Times Forum page:
He said he saw an 'attack' by the five rottweilers on one of the owner's workers a few days earlier. The man did not seem to be hurt.
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Said AVA's head of animal welfare and control Madhavan Kannan yesterday: 'Investigations on that case have been concluded.'
It is now considering taking Madam Kaur, an information technology business owner, to court. Large dogs like rottweilers must be leashed as well as muzzled in public places. The fine is $5,000 per dog, per offence - that is, $5,000 for every dog unleashed and $5,000 for every dog unmuzzled.
The issue of the five rottweilers was first aired in August when Madam Kaur's immediate neighbour, semi-retired businessman Foo Seck Siong, 66, wrote to The Straits Times.
He said he had witnessed an 'attack' by the dogs, and asked why five dogs were permitted in her house.
He called them 'a threat to the people in the neighbourhood' as they were often allowed to wander around outside without supervision.
Madam Kaur, 51, and her sons denied Mr Foo's accusation. The 'playful puppies' had never attacked anyone, they claimed. Neither were the dogs allowed to roam freely around the area, in Lengkong Tiga.
As there were no prior reported incidents involving the 2 1/2-year-old mother dog and her four 1 1/2-year-old puppies, AVA did not follow up on Mr Foo's complaints.
Then came the Nov 26 attack on Mambo, a five-year-old terrier.
It suffered eight puncture wounds while its owner, advertising agency owner David Ow, 59, sustained knee injuries trying to protect his dog.
Following that attack, it was reported on Sunday that a friend of Madam Kaur's youngest son had been bitten by the dogs. The friend required 10 stitches.
Mr Kannan said yesterday that AVA will continue to monitor the situation, and if the owner still cannot control her remaining three dogs, more may have to go.
Neighbours like Mr Foo are cheered by the news.
He said the racket the dogs made have caused his wife and him sleepless nights.
Another neighbour, housewife C. Ong, 60, said that on at least five occasions, she had seen the dogs wandering outside - unmuzzled and unleashed.
When asked about her plans for the dogs, Madam Kaur seemed combative.
She said: 'All the press I've had so far is negative. I don't have to account to anyone but AVA.'
Straits Times reader Jagindar Singh, 67, had called in earlier this week with the intention of adopting two of the dogs. But when the retiree broached it to his family, they were against the idea.
He said they told him: 'They bite other dogs and humans. So no.'
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See also AVA TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST ROTTWEILERS' OWNER, FORUM
owner still so unrepentent
