Man accused of pet-shop licensing breaches

A 24-year-old man was yesterday charged in court with six counts of breaching pet-shop licensing conditions. He also faced one count of failing to comply with written notices to be present for investigations, said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) in a statement yesterday.

In March, AVA was alerted to a case where a puppy purchased from Fatty Paws Pet Shop died of parvovirus. Investigations found that Aw Ying Liang, the licensee of the shop, had breached several pet-shop licensing conditions.

Among the charges, Aw is alleged to have failed to ensure that puppies at his shop were microchipped and vaccinated. Aw also repeatedly failed to comply with written noticesto report to the investigation officer to give a statement.

In March, The Straits Times reported that Fatty Paws Pet Shop was being investigated by AVA over claims it sold a customer a sick puppy, which later died from canine parvovirus. There were also online accusations that the pet shop did not take proper care of its puppies.

For breaching AVA's pet-shop licensing conditions, licensees are liable to a maximum fine of $5,000.

Individuals who, without reasonable excuse, refuse or fail to comply with an AVA written notice are liable to be fined up to $10,000 or jailed up to six months, or both.

Aw will appear in court again on Aug 2.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 20, 2017, with the headline Man accused of pet-shop licensing breaches. Subscribe