A 34-year-old Singaporean man, Loh Chee Chiang, was sentenced today to 6 months imprisonment for illegally importing 3 puppies, a husky, a schnauzer and a chow chow, into Singapore and 3 months imprisonment for subjecting the puppies to unnecessary suffering or pain. Both sentences will run concurrently.

2      On 22 April 2016, at about 12.55am, Loh, who was driving a Singapore-registered car, was stopped by Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers for checks upon arrival at the Woodlands Checkpoint. During inspection, ICA officers found the three live puppies hidden inside a modified speaker box in the car boot. Loh, the puppies and car were then referred to the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) for further investigation. 

 

ICA Photo: The three puppies that were found in the car


ICA Photo: The puppies were found hidden in a modified speaker box inside the car boot

3       During AVA’s investigation, the three puppies were quarantined for 100 days at AVA’s Sembawang Animal Quarantine Station to be observed for signs of infectious or contagious diseases, especially rabies – a disease fatal to animals and humans. The puppies have successfully completed quarantine and we have worked with SPCA to successfully rehome them. 

  
AVA Photo: Puppies undergoing health checks at AVA’s Sembawang Animal Quarantine Station 

4      Animals that are smuggled into Singapore are of unknown health status and may introduce exotic diseases, such as rabies, into the country. The importation of any animals or live birds without an AVA permit is illegal and carries a maximum penalty of $10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

5       Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore's safety and security. The security checks are critical to our nation’s security. The ICA will continue to conduct security checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands. The ICA and AVA would like to remind travellers against bringing live animals, birds and insects into Singapore without a proper permit. The public can refer to AVA’s website or download AVA’s mobile app, SG TravelKaki (available free-of-charge from iTunes and the Google Play store), for more information on bringing back animals from overseas.

 

 

IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
AGRI-FOOD & VETERINARY AUTHORITY
24 August 2016