On Wednesday (3 May), a 22-year-old dog groomer was fined S$8,000 after a Maltese died under her care. She will also be disqualified from running any animal-related business for nine months.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
During the incident, she allegedly left the dog unattended to go for a smoke break. In that time, the canine slipped off the grooming table and hung from its leash till it died.
According to TODAY, the incident took place on 9 Nov 2021. On that day, the dog groomer, Boon Regine Vienna, was working at Raku Inu pet shop along Ang Mo Kio (AMK) Avenue 4.
The dog owner had dropped off their Maltese dog at around 2pm that day. Boon then took the dog and attached it to the table securely with its leash.
After grooming the canine for a while, she reportedly went for a smoke break at around 3.35pm, leaving the dog unattended for roughly seven minutes.
Prior to leaving the room, she allegedly decided not to restrain the dog with an extra sling under its arm or shift it to a safe position as it “did not seem active”, quoted TODAY.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao
But several minutes after she left, the dog tried to lie down and ended up slipping off the table. As its leash was not long enough, the canine hung in mid-air for a while before it stopped moving.
Lianhe Zaobao noted that Boon noticed something amiss when she returned to find the dog motionless. She thus called her colleague for help and they rushed the dog to a nearby vet for emergency treatment.
Sadly, the vet was unable to revive the poor animal.
TODAY noted that after the dog’s death, Boon immediately called the pet’s owner to apologise and the latter accepted her apology.
While she offered to compensate for the loss, her employer apparently said that the firm would offer a compensation S$20,000 compensation instead.
NParks’ prosecutor Desmond Lua asked for Boon to be charged a fine of S$8,000 and be disqualified for 12 months. He highlighted that Boon had a high degree of culpability, since she took a risk leading to the death of the innocent dog.
On the contrary, Boon’s lawyer Mr Vinodh Visvanathan replied that she did not make a “conscious decision to take a risk on the life of an animal”. Rather, she made a “poor judgement on the safety aspect of the situation”.
Mr Vinodh also noted that this was the only time that something as serious as this had taken place during Boon’s shift.
Moreover, Boon plans to enrol herself in a grooming course to improve her knowledge of grooming an animal safety, which pointed to a sincere passion in the job. This is on top of the fact that she apparently has received mainly positive reviews from customers.
Boon was eventually fined S$8,000 and had her period of disqualification from running any animal-related business reduced to nine months.
In meting out the punishment, the judge expressed hope that Boon will take the time to “upskill and upgrade herself such that she will return to this pet industry confidently”, quoted TODAY.
The judge also counted on Boon subsequently contributing to the industry more effectively and “and reciprocate the trust and confidence her customers have in her”.
Those found guilty of causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal may face a jail term of up to two years, a maximum fine of S$40,000, or both.
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Featured image adapted from Lianhe Zaobao.
The authorities have investigated and closed the incident with no follow-ups required, MFA said.
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