Early last month, two dogs passed away after suffering from seizures.
Both of them had visited a field in the Kovan area before their demise.
The authorities have now said that they “most likely” died from poisoning.
Suspected poisoning victims Palo (left) and Sunkiss. Source: @bernedoodlesage on Instagram and @sunkiss_thecavachon on Instagram
Nevertheless, the field has been reopened to be the public on Sunday (12 Nov).
In a joint statement sent to MS News on Saturday (11 Nov), the Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS) and Singapore Land Authority (SLA) said they’d concluded investigations into the dog deaths.
The probe, which started on 7 Oct after alerts from the community, involved testing environmental samples from the field at Parry Avenue and surrounding areas.
The owners who lost their dogs and their attending veterinarians were also interviewed to gather relevant information.
Unfortunately, there were no samples available from the two deceased dogs to establish how they fell and ill and passed away.
That’s because their remains were cremated before the investigations started.
However, based on their clinical information that was available, AVS & SLA concluded,
Poisoning was the most likely cause of demise.
Source: @bernedoodlesage on Instagram
The statement also revealed that a third dog had passed away on 5 Oct.
This dog didn’t enter the Parry Avenue field, though, and only walked in the vicinity.
Its carcass was sent to AVS for a post-mortem examination, which “showed no evidence that the dog experienced poisoning”.
AVS and SLA pointed out that, unlike the other two dogs, the third dog was not reported to have had seizures.
Thus, based on this and other clinical signs, they concluded,
It is likely that this third case is unrelated to the other two cases.
While investigations were being carried out, the field in question was cordoned off.
Following the conclusion of the probe, it will reopen to the public on Sunday (12 Nov), AVS and SLA said.
One reason for this is that there is “no evidence of contamination at the field”, they added, citing testing results.
When environmental samples from there were analysed, no poison or toxic substance that could’ve killed the dogs was uncovered. There was no vector control treatment conducted there recently.
Source: Megan Chow Aiyan on Facebook
This goes for the surrounding areas too.
Another reason for reopening the field is that no similar cases have been reported to date across Singapore, the statement said.
This was after an advisory was issued to all licensed veterinarians in Singapore to report any similar cases.
Dog owners living around Parry Avenue were also asked to volunteer the same information if they had it.
AVS and SLA reminded dog owners to keep a close watch on their dogs in public places, including leashing them, to minimise the risk of injury.
Members of the public may also report any suspected case of animal cruelty or injuries to the AVS via their website or Animal Response Centre at 1800-476-1600.
Ultimately, “safeguarding animal welfare is a shared social responsibility”, the agencies said.
Hopefully, no more innocent dog lives are lost as a result of visiting that field.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Megan Chow Aiyan on Facebook.
He was also charged with driving without a valid licence, among other traffic offences.
She offered RM50 the first time, then S$50.
"This incident could have happened anywhere," said a local politician.
43% of Singapore's average monthly rainfall in November fell in northwest Singapore over less than…
Witnesses said the fire alarms didn't go off when the blaze occurred.
The father said he slapped his daughter to calm her down.