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I am upset with attitude of the SPCA officers manning the emergency hotline. I called the hotline on August 26 at 7.30pm. My friend and I go to Pasir Ris beach to fish every weekend. On the Aug 26, we spotted a badly wounded dog. He had a big open wound on his neck and was limping from what seemed like a broken hind leg. Being animal lovers, we followed it to see if there was anything we could do to help. It grew hostile when we approached and ran away. We immediately called the SPCA hotline. However, a male officer (I can't recall his name) said we would have to capture the dog before the SPCA could take action. How are we expected to capture such a big and injured dog? If we could, we would have driven him to SPCA ourselves, but couldn't and that was why we called the emergency hotline. My friend and I chased the injured dog again but time and again, he slipped away. We couldn't leash him because of the open wound on his neck. The male officer called back about an hour later and we told him that it was impossible to capture the dog. He assured me that he would send his team down to search for this dog the next day. I left the matter at that. However, on my weekly fishing tip on Saturday Sept 1, I spotted the dog again.
The wound looked bigger and even more badly infected and he was constantly shaking his head. Again I tried to capture the dog but to no avail. Once again, I called the SPCA.
This time it was around 4.30pm and a female officer answered. She sounded amazed that I was panting. When I explained that I was trying to keep up with the dog, she made a comment that enraged me. She said it was funny that I couldn't keep up with a dog with a broken leg. She did not seem to show concern about the animal. She said their only driver was at Admiralty and would not be able to come down. She said I should have called in on a weekday instead. Once again, SPCA left me with no answers. What is the emergency hotline for if you tell callers to call back on a weekday? It is not easy for members of the public to capture a stray that is injured.
I am very upset that the injured dog is still without any form of medical help. The SPCA is an organisation that ensures the well-being of every animal, but I am greatly disappointed with the way it handled this situation.
Genevieve Seah Zhixia
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