Dog cruelty in Singapore

I am so appalled that the person who killed this little dog has not been caught yet. Here's the low down on what happened:

Dog believed to have been bashed to death

By Sia Ling Xin A DOG found dead in Sengkang on Wednesday evening is believed to have been beaten to death, said the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). Click on thumbnail to view For more photos, click here. A preliminary examination of the Pomeranian by a vet showed injuries to its head consistent with trauma, said the SPCA's executive officer, Ms Deidre Moss. Police said they received a call at about 7.40pm informing them that an animal carcass had been found at Block 267B, Compassvale Link. The SPCA was notified later and its staff collected the carcass. The dog was found with a leash on. Ms Moss believes that the incident might have been witnessed by people at a nearby coffeeshop. A hawker from the coffeeshop told Shin Min Daily News that a man in his 40s had earlier approached him, asking to borrow a knife. The man had been leading the dog. When the hawker turned him down, the man led the dog to the void deck and bashed it repeatedly against a wall. SPCA's examination of the dog found that it had been microchipped. Microchipping - the implanting of a tiny electronic device between the animal's shoulder blades - can help link a dog back to its owner. The carcass was handed over to the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) for further investigations yesterday. An AVA spokesman told my paper that the dog's microchip number was not registered with them and a post-mortem is underway. Ms Moss said: "This is an outrageous, violent act. We hope the person who did it can be apprehended soon, as he or she might be a danger to both people and more animals." » Neighbour films woman beating dog » Dog hit repeatedly with wooden sticks Sengkang resident Sarah Koh, 32, said she was shocked to hear about the act, as it was carried out so close to her home. She said: "I keep thinking of how helpless the dog must have felt and who could have done such a terrible thing." The maximum penalty for animal abuse is a $10,000 fine and a one-year jail term.

Firstly it is sickening that the abuser is so depraved that he is impervious to the pain and torture he is inflicting on his very own pet. This is the dog that has been loyally with him all this while, trusting its owner to protect and care for it! It is akin to killing your own family member. 

I can't even imagine what would happen if the hawker lent him a knife. How can he throw the dog against the wall, the floor, and hear the shrieks, yelps, whines, howls of pain but yet not stop? Apparently, after the act, he was remorseful. But WHAT IS THE DAMN POINT?! 

Obviously he has an anger problem and took it out on his dog. An innocent animal paid with its life for being in the wrong hands.

Secondly, WHAT ARE THE BLOODY PEOPLE STANDING AROUND FOR!? Why didn't anyone stop the man? 

Some speculated that the man could be crazy and one called the police, "HOPING" that they will turn up before the dog dies. 

Come on, the abuser is ONLY ONE man, and there are so many spectators. All it takes is for one person to take courage, and stand up for what is right. To protect a helpless animal against its to-be murderer. Defending the defenseless. 

I can't say what I would do in that situation, but I would NEVER stand by and watch while such cruelty is taking place. Even if it would put myself at risk, I think it would be better than watching the dog die, going home to wish I DID something, and losing sleep over it. 

The hawker says he is getting nightmares over it. He SHOULD! He is a strong young man, with a knife, no less. And the victim is a small, pathetic creature 10% of his size! 

Why are Singaporeans so apathetic? Why are there so many cowards? What will it take for someone to just shout out at the man to stop whatever he is doing? Justice needs to be done. The killer has to be identified and arrested and prosecuted and fined and jailed. Just so that people can recognize that animal cruelty is wrong.

I urge everyone who has information about the case to contact the SPCA so that we can identify the culprit. Sign the online petition by clicking here .

For every one case that gets reported, countless others suffer in silence. There was a recent incident where a dog was beaten with a baseball stick by a woman. The dog was chained to a corner in the kitchen and could not escape. All for the "crime" of bitting the owner's cushion. When will people start to value life over objects?




Frustration with your dog is not ample reason to beat it up. People need to get educated on how to train their dogs. Simply beating it up when it barks too much is not the solution. The dog does not get the idea. It doesn't associate the beating with its barking. Instead, it becomes fearful and angry, and eventually aggressive.




One way to deal with noisy dogs is to approach it quickly when it howls or barks, find its adam's apple just along the throat, put your fingers on it and give a hard jerk. This will choke the dog and it associates this discomfort with the noisy barking. Consistency is the key!


Your dog will probably give a sharp yelp of pain. It may seem cruel, but it beats (pun intended) beating up your pet regularly. You probably need a few days or weeks to get the message across to your dog. But it is worth it in the long run and you will be a much happier dog owner for it.


For a fulfilling and rewarding relationship with your dog, I urge you to go for dog obedience classes where you can get professional help on how to correct problems. If not, at least bother to go online to search for tips on dog training. It's the least you can do.

Foxtrot Photo Shoot

Shoot Location: Fullerton Hotel

Project: Foxtrot Look Book 2011 S/S

Time: 8:00am

These photos chronicle my day's work as stylist for Foxtrot. Fun but tough job. Loved styling the model but hate the sun! Ended up all sweaty and makeup melted after 4 hours.

Here's me and the makeup artist stepping out from Fullerton. We look like the entourage of a superstar. Fullerton graciously lent us their toilet for clothes changes. Actually they didn't have a choice as we nonchalantly stepped in several times to help ourselves to their posh washroom. The concierge politely asked if they could help us the first two times. By the third time, I think they wised up that we were just freeloaders, especially since Erin walked out looking different each time.

Guess who came to work?

Payment terms: minced beef for 3 days.

Gorgeous Erin Gray working the bikini under trench look.

Photographers from Colorful.sg  measure light settings while I hide from the sun in the shadow of "the BIRD". (see 3 photos down)

Me at work as the stylist. Oh yes, trench graciously loaned from Mango while Kookai bikini graciously loaned by me ;).

Famous "The BIRD" sculpture just beside the river.

Me checking out the pics with Tiger in tow. He kept himself busy trotting from place to place with me. That's the nice thing about Tiger...he won't run away from his owner like other dogs. He makes sure he keeps me in sight no matter what.

Sweet Tiger had to be constantly watered. See how hot he's getting wearing his fur coat.

Standing in the sun is no joke. Ouch. I felt the sun's rays piercing into my skin each second. Wish I had my trusty umbrella.

Thankfully Erin loves the sun. She looks good with a tan. I don't. Trust me, I've tried the 'golden' look before. It doesn't work.

At the Cavenagh Bridge. This is probably my favourite historical bridge in Singapore. Has many great angles for photos. Unfortunately, at this moment, it is plastered with YOG (Youth Olympic Games) stickers featuring the childish mascots.

It is so rare for a dog to appear in the business district area that we couldn't pass up the chance to take more pics of Tiger. Tiger looks like a babe here, sitting on the bridge beside me.

Actually, he is very much like a little kid. He is soooo scared along this ridge. Petrified, taking tiny steps and looking around for help. Note his tail is between his legs.

See how he's coming to me, 'asking' to be let down. He tends to lick when he is uncomfortable and here's him trying to lick my face.

Right...time to get some serious work done.

One of my favourite scenes..Tiger in his glam rhinestone leash/collar set. He was really cooperative.

Time to wrap up and call it a day. Went back to have a shower. Arrggh...hate the humidity. 

African Tree

Have to share this ordinary-looking tree from South Africa with ya. From a distance it looks like just a fat stubby tree.

Nearer, it seems this tree has had some mutant growth spurts.

Now for the real close-up...be amazed...

The artistry that went into this is amazing! And just how much time did the artist spend on carving this out detail by detail?!

Spooked

I took Tiger out for a walk at 2am some nights ago. Tiger gets walked twice a day, where he does 'small' business and 'big' business. So I was taking him on his usual route near my place. He stopped at the gate of the adjacent apartments to pee as I waited.

It was all quiet and serene when there was a loud crash of metal. This is the kind of sound you get when you walk on metal gratings that they put over manholes/drains. So I looked towards the source of the sound, just right inside the condo, among the dark bushes, expecting to see a cat because Tiger started getting very excited. His ears and tail were errect and his muscles tense. He pushed the gate open and it gave in to his pressure, but he stopped short of stepping in.

I followed his gaze as I wondered where the 'cat' was, peering into the deep recesses of the shubbery, until I realized there wasn't any. He was staring right into the space ahead of us as though he saw something I couldn't see. Then I remembered it was the "Ghost Month". I don't subscribe to it, but well, I thought okay...time to make a move. Usually he would be reluctant to go home after such a short walk, but this time, he followed my lead readily, and couldn't wait to get past our own condo's gate, making whiney noises until we reached home.

I am spooked.

Marina Barrage on National Day Weekend

We went to the Marina Barrage on National Day. My first time there. Obviously I'm not your typical "kiasu" Singaporean who'll jostle with the crowd for the latest new venue. I haven't been to Universal Studios and Marina Sands either. 

The vintage car clubbers were there, and I snapped a photo of this fabulous MG right before the owner came along and drove it away. Vintage cars are sooo cool! Love the wheels and its spokes.

The fantastic design of the barrage gives many opportunities for great photos. Except I only had my Canon compact. Love the curves. At the top, it provides 360 degrees view of the city skyline and the waters.

Unfortunately, navigating our way around was challenging with the hazards of kites flying haphazardly over my head and nylon strings loose on the ground tripping me up. Not to mention kids and moms stopping me every minute to pet my dog.

Look at this: at least a few hundred kites in the air, no thanks to the kite shop at the barrage doing roaring business. Wasn't a great idea to go there pre-National Day I guess.

There was a wonderful breeze though. Great for Tiger, who is at that moment what you call a "hot dog", panting away.

Just look at that crowd behind on this tiny little piece of land. Unbelievable!

This little tranquil jetty brings back fond memories of Italy's Lake Garda.

Love this pic of my baby and I. He is sooo super cute. And oh, if you're a parent who doesn't mind having your kids soaking wet, there's a fountain at the barrage too. Somehow, ever since Bugis Junction came up with its pond-less fountain, followed by Vivocity's "wading fountain", fountains have never been the same again. It seems all fountains are fair game for kids, doubling up as a playground as long as there are no barricades. Personally, I do think that it is rather dangerous for kids to be near powerful, shooting jets of water. However there is no denying the fun factor. 

So anyway, if I were ever going to visit the Barrage again, any weekend anywhere near a public holiday is an absolutely lousy idea.