Alvin Tan says Jamus Lim left out facts about resident’s complaint against vet, creating unfair impression of AVS

Jamus Lim says he was raising resident’s concerns after Alvin Tan clarified that AVS found no negligence

Minister of State for National Development Alvin Tan has said that Sengkang MP Jamus Lim omitted facts when he brought up a resident’s complaint against a veterinarian during a Parliament sitting last month.

This had created an “unfair” impression of Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) officers, Mr Tan said in Parliament on Tuesday (5 May).

But Dr Lim responded that it was his role to raise the concerns of his residents.

Jamus Lim brings up resident’s complaint against vet during 8 April parliamentary speech

On 8 April, Dr Lim called for the formation of a Veterinary Council made up of technically informed peers, similar to the Medical Council for doctors and the Law Society for lawyers.

It would adjudicate cases involving vets accused of negligence, among other matters, he said.

During his speech, he mentioned that one of his residents had filed a complaint to AVS against a vet when her dog died after a medical procedure.

However, she claimed that key documents submitted to AVS for investigation “did not appear to be independently verified for authenticity”.

The incident allegedly undermined her confidence in the system’s accountability, he added.

The Workers’ Party MP noted that he was not insinuating that her case involved or did not involve lapses. But he remarked that “the prior regime may have fallen short” in her experience.

Resident alleged that vet didn’t properly explain procedure

Mr Tan subsequently checked on the case and revealed more details about it during Tuesday’s sitting.

He said the resident had brought her dog to a vet in October 2024 as the pet was unwell.

After it died after a medical procedure, she alleged that the vet had not properly explained the potential risks and benefits of the procedure to her.

Thus, she did not give informed consent to the procedure, she claimed.

The resident also filed a police report, claiming the clinic had forged her signature on the consent form or altered its contents.

No evidence found of negligence or forgery by vet

However, Mr Tan said that after AVS reviewed the evidence, including CCTV footage and medical records, it found that the vet had informed the resident of the prognosis, potential treatment options, and their risks.

Also, the police did not find evidence of forgery by the clinic, but instead found evidence that she had signed the form there in the presence of clinic staff.

Eventually, AVS found no evidence of professional negligence or misconduct by the vet, Mr Tan added.

Jamus Lim knew that AVS found no negligence

Dr Lim, who had appealed to the National Parks Board (NParks) and other agencies for the resident, had been kept in the loop since 2025, Mr Tan revealed.

Thus, from NParks’ replies, he would have known three key facts prior to his 8 April speech:

1. AVS had investigated the incident
2. AVS had found no professional negligence or misconduct by the vet
3. AVS found areas for the vet’s improvement, which did not affect the outcome of veterinary case management

The Sengkang MP had also emailed the resident on 28 Oct 2025, informing her that AVS had found “no relevant regulatory violations”, adding:

I also hope that you are willing to accept that the route of appealing to the authorities is effectively closed, unless you are able to provide material new information to prompt them to reopen the case.

Alvin Tan says Jamus Lim created unfair impression of AVS officers

Consequently, Mr Tan said that Dr Lim had left out details that would have given Parliament and the public “a fuller and more complete picture of the matter”, adding:

Instead, the impression he created was that AVS had not been thorough in its investigations. This is unwarranted and not fair to the AVS officers.

He also pointed out that Dr Lim had implied that AVS had not conducted investigations on the complaint fairly, effectively and independently, because he mentioned during his 8 April that “public trust and confidence in procedure is of utmost importance”.

This was a “serious allegation”, he noted, urging MPs to be careful with facts when making allegations against public officers.

Jamus Lim says he was raising the concerns of residents

Responding to Mr Tan, Dr Lim said he would convey this update to his resident.

He added that it was his job to “raise the concerns of the lived experience” of his residents, and that Mr Tan would do the same for his residents.

Additionally, he believed that he had faithfully represented his resident’s case.

MP have responsibility to present as full a picture as possible: Alvin Tan

Mr Tan subsequently acknowledged the resident’s grief at losing her dog and the MP’s empathetic ear.

However, he stated that it should not come in the form of unfairly calling out public officers.

What is said in Parliament and what is omitted are both important, and MPs have a responsibility to steward information and to present as full a picture as possible, he noted, adding:

We ought to take care of what we say, and also take care of what we do not say.

Also read: SM Lee & Jamus Lim have Facebook debate on COE, disagree on how to best meet people’s needs

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Featured image adapted from MDDI Singapore on YouTube and YouTube.