SINGAPORE — A businessman who failed to seek timely treatment for his pet dog has been fined the maximum S$10,000 under the Animals and Birds Act. This is the first time the maximum fine has been imposed by the court for animal cruelty.

Lim Soo Seng, 76, was convicted of “unreasonably omitting” to bring his female cross-breed dog to the vet for treatment in May last year.

Court documents stated that the dog was “found to be emaciated”, and appeared “to have been chronically starved or malnourished, possibly for months”.

The dog died before treatment was sought. The post-mortem found that the dog had multi-organ dysfunction.

In a statement, the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said its investigations showed Lim had adopted the dog from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) about seven years ago, when it was one year old. The dog was looked after by Lim’s domestic helper since her employment about a year ago.

Lim said he had instructed his helper to feed it, along with other pet dogs he owned, twice a day.

The helper claimed that she fed the dog with dry food, and had told her employer that the dog was becoming very thin a month before the dog died. However, Lim did not bring the dog to the vet, and the helper informed his wife when the dog stopped eating on May 16 last year.

Lim’s wife said she would ask Lim to bring the dog to the vet the next day, but the dog died on May 17.

Lim then brought the dog to the SPCA for disposal. Upon examination by the SPCA vet, the dog’s carcase was found to be “severely emaciated and appeared to have been chronically starved or malnourished, possibly for months, before its death”.

For not bringing the dog to the vet sooner, Lim could have been jailed up to a year, in addition to the fine.

Members of the public who witness any suspected acts of animal cruelty can contact AVA at 1800 476 1600. - additional reporting CHANNEL NEWSASIA