Woman fined for unlicensed pet farming, dog ownership

SINGAPORE — A pet-shop owner was fined S$11,000 on Wednesday (June 14) for operating a pet farm without a licence and keeping unlicensed dogs.

Last month, Lin Xiaoqun, 39, a Singapore permanent resident, was charged with operating a farm without a valid pet-farm licence, given that she was breeding puppies for sale at her pet shop. 

She also faced charges of owning dogs without a licence — the prosecution proceeded with five charges, and four others were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Lin is the licensee of Ethans Pet Resort, a pet shop located in Farmart Centre at Sungei Tengah near Choa Chu Kang.

On Feb 3, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) conducted an unannounced inspection of her pet shop and found several dog kennels in a room at the back of the premises. 

There were 10 adult dogs, including a female Shiba Inu, and four puppies being kept there. These dogs were not part of the pet shop’s official records, which is a list of all the dogs for sale that pet shops have to maintain, as required by the authority. Nine out of the 10 adult dogs were also not licensed.

An unlicensed adult Shiba Inu dog and her four puppies, which were found in a back room of the pet shop. Photo: AVA

Upon questioning, Lin admitted to using the 10 adult dogs for the illegal breeding of puppies for sale on the premises. 

She also voluntarily surrendered the 10 dogs and four puppies to the officers. 

The authority said in its latest statement yesterday that it had worked with its partners to “successfully rehome” all the dogs and puppies.

A pet-farm licence is required to breed dogs for sale. Anyone found guilty of operating an unlicensed pet farm can be fined up to S$10,000 and/or jailed up to 12 months. 

All dogs belonging to owners must be licensed by the AVA. Anyone found guilty of keeping unlicensed dogs can be fined up to S$5,000.