STOMP — “Asia’s leading citizen-journalism website” — made a booboo today when one of their reports claimed that a viral video of an animal trainer kicking a dog took place at this weekend’s Pet Expo Singapore.
It was a pretty dubious claim after all; the man was identified to be a Malaysian and was working for a Malaysian firm, according to internet sleuths. The Star also reported that the upsetting clip has been circulating among “social media users in Malaysia”. The event has since been properly identified to be the Pet Fiesta Expo at the Setia City Convention Centre in Selangor, Malaysia.
The clip sees a couple of trainers standing by their respective dogs during a show of some sort, when two of them got into a kerfuffle. It was a lighthearted moment… at first. Things got grim real fast when one handler simply strode in and kicked a dog.
His own dog — the one that seemed to have provoked the fight in the first place — was grabbed away and more of his kicks landed on the other canine. Outrage ensued of course, with the crowd yelling at the man to stop attacking. The black-and-white dog fortunately was carried away before the man could land another blow.
Speaking to Coconuts Singapore, a spokesperson for Pet Expo Singapore quashed all allegations that the incident took place in their event, which kicked off on the morning of Good Friday.
“We believe this incident occurred at another exhibition,” the spokesperson said.
“We and everyone we work with (including 13 welfare agencies) love dogs and animals very much and we do not condone such violence!”
Pet Expo Singapore has also since put out a statement regarding STOMP’s erroneous report — of which has since been taken down.
But regardless of where it happened, it still is a horrendous affair and the fact that it took place at a dog show makes it more appalling.
