Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Nee Soon South residents reminded to clean up pets’ urine

SINGAPORE — Thank you for cleaning up your dog’s poo. Now, please clean up your dog’s pee, too, Nee Soon South residents were told yesterday as the constituency held its monthly litter-picking exercise.

Yishun resident Jennifer Lim, 51, demonstrates using a water bottle to clean up dog urine, as her dog Xuemin looks on, in Yishun on Oct 9, 2016. Photo: Jason Quah

Yishun resident Jennifer Lim, 51, demonstrates using a water bottle to clean up dog urine, as her dog Xuemin looks on, in Yishun on Oct 9, 2016. Photo: Jason Quah

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

SINGAPORE — Thank you for cleaning up your dog’s poo. Now, please clean up your dog’s pee, too, Nee Soon South residents were told yesterday as the constituency held its monthly litter-picking exercise.

Posters will be put up in the area’s lifts within the week to remind pet owners to bring along a bottle of water, besides newspaper sheets and plastic bags, when walking their dogs.

“We received feedback that certain void decks are quite smelly because (of dog pee that) was not washed immediately,” said Nee Soon Member of Parliament Lee Bee Wah. “As you know, (the smell) will attract other dogs in the estate to (urinate at the same place).”

Dr Lee related a recent incident of a dog owner in Yishun getting fined for leaving “a big pool of urine” in the lift, following investigations into a complaint. “If the dog were to pee in the lift, I’d think that you should wash it immediately so as not to inconvenience other residents,” she said.

The constituency has been receiving “constant feedback” — at least once a week — on pet urine in recent months, after more was done since April to correct the behaviour of owners who did not pick up their pets’ waste.

Between April and June, 33 “dog poo stations” — a box where owners can help themselves to plastic bags contributed by the community — had been rolled out in the constituency.

A National Environment Agency officer who was educating residents yesterday at Block 875 Yishun Street 81 revealed that animal waste, if not cleared, causes soiling and the transmission of infectious and parasitic diseases such as leptospirosis, a bacterial disease that can affect animals and humans.

Owners who do not clean up after their pets in public areas can be fined up to S$1,000, if convicted.

Dog owner Mdm Kwek Sioe Kim, 68, who was carrying a roll of newspapers on her walk, said: “Sometimes I forget that I should bring some water along. I think next time I should put a bottle by the door to remember to bring it (along).”

Ms Thian Mei Yee, 26, suggested that owners should train their dogs to urinate in pee trays at home: “Male dogs tend to do urine marking, so they pee a lot outdoors. But in my experience, if their dogs are toilet-trained, they won’t pee as much.”

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.