SINGAPORE – When Ian Tan adopted Pong Pong in 2019, the male pomeranian was frightened of people and suffered from poor skin, wounds and dental problems after spending much of his early life as a breeding dog.
A few days after arriving at his new home, Pong Pong made a small gesture, which continues to stick with Tan. The dog began eating properly. Then he walked over and licked his new owner.
“I felt that the lick was his way of telling me that he knew he was finally somewhere safe and warm,” the 38-year-old founder and medical director of local medical aesthetics group V Aesthetics Holdings tells The Straits Times.
Watching the rescue dog slowly become curious, trusting and happy made Tan realise what a second chance could mean for an animal. Pong Pong, now estimated to be about 13 years old, still lives with him, alongside Tan’s two other pomeranians, aged three and five.
That experience has now translated into a $400,000 commitment from V Aesthetics Holdings to local animal welfare charity SOSD through a dedicated V Aesthetics Holdings Animal Welfare Fund – the largest single-year corporate contribution SOSD has received.
Pong Pong was not from SOSD, but Tan chose the organisation as he was impressed by its genuine commitment to helping shelter dogs under its care find homes.
The funding, which runs from September to August 2027, will go towards two additional contract welfare staff, about 150 elevated beds, better meals and supplements, as well as shelter improvements at The Animal Lodge and Jurong Island.
The sum is equivalent to roughly a quarter of SOSD’s 2025 expenditure of $1.54 million. Tan says the amount was deliberately set at a level that could make a tangible difference.
“We wanted to commit an amount that was meaningful enough to create real impact, rather than make a symbolic contribution,” he says.
What he learnt from SOSD was that some of the most useful things to fund were also the least glamorous – people to walk and care for the dogs, food, supplements, comfortable bedding and a better living environment.
The bills keep coming
For SOSD president May Ngu, 37, the contribution provides the charity with room to improve the dogs’ quality of life beyond the basics.
But it does not mean that its everyday fund-raising needs have disappeared.
SOSD, which was started in 2011, requires about $1.5 million a year to maintain its current level of care and operations. Expenditure rose from $1.49 million in 2024 to around $1.54 million in 2025, in part because an ageing shelter population increasingly needs specialised diets, medication and medical attention.
Its veterinary and medication bill alone climbed from about $252,000 in 2024 to $298,000 in 2025.
The charity cares for close to 200 dogs across its shelters and foster network. The baseline cost of caring for one shelter dog is about $625 a month, according to Ngu.
But one critically ill dog requiring emergency surgery or intensive treatment can chalk up a bill of $10,000 to $20,000.
Cash donations to SOSD actually rose from $1.66 million in 2024 to $1.91 million in 2025. Public and corporate cash donations made up about 68 per cent of its total income in 2025, while government grants and matching schemes contributed around $511,000.
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