SINGAPORE: The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) has addressed a widely shared online post by a group of animal lovers which claimed AVA contractors could be behind the suspected poisoning of a stray dog in Yishun.
In a Facebook post late Friday (Apr 27), AVA said it had deployed external contractors to remove stray dogs in Yishun Avenue 6, after receiving feedback that the animals were chasing members of the public in the area. It had also ascertained that they were a "public safety risk".
However, it emphasised that contractors are not allowed to use "poisoned bait". "All external contractors have to follow a set of guidelines jointly developed by AVA and SPCA," the authority said.
AVA added that it was informed that a dog carcass was disposed of, but that it "did not receive any reports on alleged poisoning of stray dogs in the area".
Its statement came in response to a viral post on the "Yishun 326 Tabby cat" Facebook page.
The group alleges that a stray dog was found dead after residents from the Yishun Riverwalk estate saw three men in a silver van visiting the area over the course of a few evenings.
"One of them was holding to a plastic bag and went into the forested area then returned empty-handed. The residents confronted them but they ignored (sic) and walked off. The next day, a dog carcass was found," the post read.
Volunteers from the Yishun 326 Tabby cat group said they later found dog food, gloves and "white powder" on the items in the forested area.
The group posted images of the dead dog and said it had made a police report.
AdvertisementAdvertisementMr Louis Ng, Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC and founder of the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES), weighed in on the matter on Saturday.
"Reading about animals being poisoned is something which makes me angry and many of you have written to me about the suspected stray dog poisoning case at Yishun Ave 6," he said.
He added that he has spoken to the authorities about the case and they assured him that use of poisoned bait is prohibited.
He also urged people with information on the incident to reach out to the authorities.
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