A 29-year-old woman has been charged over the death of a dog that fell and hung herself on her leash.
Vanessa Chiu Yan Er, manager and partner of home-based pet groomer Pawkins SG, appeared in court on Wednesday (11 Dec), reported The Straits Times (ST).
Image courtesy of Sonia Tan
The incident occurred at about 1.45pm on 24 July at a unit in Serangoon Central, according to court documents seen by ST.
Chiu, who was Fendi’s groomer, allegedly left her unattended on a grooming table without first securing her with a “double arm lock”.
CCTV footage showed the dog falling off the table and being caught by her leash. She was then left hanging there for an extended period.
Image courtesy of Sonia Tan
After wriggling for about a minute, Fendi stopped moving and appeared to have lost consciousness.
She was later found by groomers, who performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her, but it was too late.
On Wednesday, Chiu was charged with one count of causing unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal under the Animals and Birds Act 1965.
If convicted as a first-time offender, she could be jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to S$40,000, according to Singapore Statutes Online.
Her case is set to be heard in court again on 15 Jan 2025.
Fendi’s owner, 24-year-old Sonia Tan, told MS News a day after the incident that all three groomers on shift had gone out for lunch, leaving the dogs unattended.
Though Pawkins had been her regular groomer, she was unaware “that when they leash the dog on the table, the arm isn’t looped in, just the neck”, she said.
Pawkins informed her of Fendi’s death more than an hour after the incident, after the corgi was already pronounced dead by a vet.
Source: Facebook
She was just one month away from her fourth birthday.
A day after the incident, Pawkins said in an Instagram post that it was “distraught over the most unfortunate incident” and sent their “deepest and most heartfelt condolences” to those who loved Fendi.
It would cooperate with the authorities and had ceased operations “in the interim”.
However, the pet groomer’s Instagram page still lists the business as closed, more than four months after the incident.
Pawkins had allegedly informed Ms Tan that they would be covering the grooming charges, vet fees, and cremation expenses in light of the incident.
She said she had filed a report with the police, National Parks Board (NParks) and Animal & Veterinary Service.
NParks told MS News at the time that it had received feedback on the case and was investigating the matter.
Also read: Bukit Timah pet groomer shuts business after being accused of muzzling dogs with cable ties
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Featured image courtesy of Sonia Tan and adapted from Facebook.
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