SINGAPORE – The National Parks Board (NParks) is investigating a case in which a dog died after it was sent to a pet shop for grooming and was reportedly left unattended.
The animal’s owner Tanish Dhillon said the dog, called Buddy, had been picked up by a transport service at around 8.30am on Oct 30, and dropped off at pet shop Pawsome Singapore at around 9.15am.
At 11.45am, Mr Dhillon received a call from the grooming facility in Tanjong Katong telling him that Buddy, a white standard poodle, had died.
Mr Dhillon, 20, said he was told by an employee that Buddy “wasn’t feeling well and he collapsed”.
“The groomer brought me upstairs (to where Buddy was) and I saw my baby lying there, with pee pads covering him. His mouth was covered in blood. His front paws were covered in blood,” Mr Dhillon told The Straits Times.
He added that footage from the pet shop’s CCTV showed that Buddy, who was almost four years old, had been left alone before his death.
The 12-minute video posted online by Mr Dhillon on Nov 1 showed Buddy in a crate at a corner of the room at the pet shop. The footage had been provided to Mr Dhillon by the pet shop.
The sounds of metal clanking and Buddy barking and yelping can be heard as he moves about in the crate. He is seen standing on his hind legs at several parts of the video, with his front paws, positioned between the grilles of the crate, holding him up.
Mr Dhillon said Buddy’s body has been sent for a post-mortem to identify the cause behind his death.
NParks’ group director of enforcement and investigation, Ms Jessica Kwok, confirmed that a post-mortem examination is being conducted.
