Usually filled with sad news of cats being abused or injured, the Yishun 326 Tabby Cat Facebook page posted this time about a pretty miserable account involving a stray dog that was found dead near the Yishun Riverwalk residential estate.
According to the post, residents at Yishun Riverwalk had been noticing a silver van coming around to the area for a couple of evenings early this week. The van would usually be parked next to a field where a pack of stray dogs was known to roam. Three “suspicious men” were spotted exiting the van and entering the forested area nearby with a plastic bag, only to emerge empty-handed.
The next day, a dog carcass was found nearby. The body was only removed the day after that, apparently to be disposed of without conducting the usual investigations into an animal’s death. In fact, the cause of death was never confirmed, but residents believe that it was poisoned by the men.
Was AVA responsible?
By that point, residents and animal lovers believed that the three “suspicious men” were none other than contractors engaged by the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) to handle the issue about stray dogs residing in the area.
After being confronted, AVA denied that it was responsible for the alleged poisoning of the dog. But it did admit hiring contractors to solve a complaint about stray dogs chasing after cyclists in the vicinity.
According to the post, stray dogs do chase after cyclists, but it’s only because they are conditioned to be excited about cyclists — their feeders usually enter the area on bicycles. Furthermore, the post declared, no injuries have been reported involving dogs chasing cyclists.
A commenter noted that the same people and van were apparently spotted catching stray dogs in Pasir Ris as well.
Private investigations
So the Yishun 326 Tabby Cat team decided to investigate the case for themselves. Inside the forested area where the alleged contractors were seen, the team claimed to have found a plastic bag containing dog food, a pair of gloves, and some white powder.
This raised suspicions even further.
“Please leave the community animals alone”
Expressing disappointment and disgust at the (alleged) actions AVA took, the team went into a tirade that accused the authorities of being heartless and inhumane in their culling of stray animals.
“Despite more people becoming aware of animal kindness now and do not actually support culling, AVA’s method of dealing with stray animals and complains do not change with time,” they wrote in the post. “While our society is being criticised for the lack of compassion and graciousness, AVA and other authorities should stop this cruelty to stray animals immediately in order not to educate the public in the wrong way.”
