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Dog abuser pleads with judge not to ban her from keeping pets

SINGAPORE — She tortured a black female chihuahua by holding its neck, lifting it up and slamming it onto the ground with great force from a height of 1.5m. She went on to pull the dog’s hind leg with excessive force, causing it to limp.

Sophia Ong Daijuan (pictured), who admitted to abusing a chihuahua, cried in court when she heard she may be banned from keeping pets.

Sophia Ong Daijuan (pictured), who admitted to abusing a chihuahua, cried in court when she heard she may be banned from keeping pets.

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SINGAPORE — She tortured a black female chihuahua by holding its neck, lifting it up and slamming it onto the ground with great force from a height of 1.5m. She went on to pull the dog’s hind leg with excessive force, causing it to limp.

Sophia Ong Daijuan, 26, also beat the dog, and fed it only once every two to three days, causing it to lose substantial weight.

On Wednesday (Sept 18), she pleaded guilty to two charges of abusing the dog, which had since died from reasons still unknown.

As the prosecution sought to ban her from keeping pets, Ong told the court that she uses dogs as “emotional support” for her mental illness and implored the judge not to order the ban. 

Ong was not represented by a lawyer and it was not revealed in court what mental illness she has.

Crying at the dock, she told District Judge Carol Ling Feng Yong: “I am okay with the price I have to pay — the fine and (any mandatory treatment order) — just that I am not okay with my dog being away. I need it by my side for me to go on.”

Ong still owns another dog at the moment.

Prosecuting officer Packer Mohammad from the National Parks Board (NParks) had informed the judge of his intention to seek a disqualification order that would ban her from owning any animal for up to 12 months.

He also asked the judge to either impose a S$5,000 fine for each convicted charge, or a mandatory order for Ong to undergo mental health treatment since she said that she has psychiatric problems.

A spokesperson from the NPark's Animal & Veterinary Service, which now oversees the scope of the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA), told TODAY that she was allowed to keep the second dog as it was found to be healthy during investigations, with no sign of abuse.

A DIFFERENT ACCOUNT DURING INVESTIGATIONS

The court heard that at about 4pm on Feb 23 last year, the AVA received feedback that she might have killed her chihuahua at her home in Yishun earlier that day.

During investigations, Ong claimed that at about 1.25am that day, she saw the chihuahua’s tail soiled with faeces. 

In the toilet, she decided to give the dog a shower, but after applying shampoo on it, she left it unattended in the basin with the tap water running as she went to her room to use her telephone. 

When she returned about five minutes later, she found that her chihuahua was lifeless and submerged in the water with its front right paw stuck in the drainage hole. 

Ong claimed that she then tried to resuscitate the dog by using some force to press its chest and blow air into its mouth, but it did not respond. 

Ong’s mother, Madam Tan Sew Wah, then arranged for a pet cremation service provider to collect the carcass for cremation later that day.

POST-MORTEM CONTRADICTS HER ACCOUNT

Before it was cremated, AVA officers managed to retrieve the chihuahua from the pet cremation service provider to conduct a post-mortem. 

The examination uncovered that the chihuahua’s death was caused by a traumatic incident directed at its head and abdomen.

The injuries were accompanied by liver lacerations, a bleeding abdomen and bits of bleeding within the dog’s lung.

It found no evidence of lesions that suggested any drowning incident.

It also ascertained that injuries found on the dog were not consistent with chest compression from administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation as Ong had claimed.

Further investigations by the AVA found that a friend of Ong's witnessed her picking up her chihuahua by its neck and throwing it down with great force on one occasion in December 2017. 

That friend later visited Ong on Jan 12 last year and that was when she noticed that the dog appeared to be very weak. 

Mr Packer noted that in that same month, Ong had “unreasonably omitted” feeding the dog on a daily basis. 

PANIC ATTACKS

After she pleaded guilty to her offences, Ong told the court that she was “mentally down” when she committed her offences: “I admit that I didn't treat (the dogs) well, but I understand that it was my responsibility (to take care of them) even when I was not in the right mind.” 

She also said that the dog under her care has gained “a lot of weight”.

The court heard that when the dog she has now was taken away from her during investigations, she suffered panic attacks through the night before it was returned to her.

“(It) is my emotional support, so I can't have (it) away,” she said. “If you guys need to check on the current dog I am having, you can check on it.”

Ong will return to court on Oct 23 to be sentenced, pending a suitability report for Ong to serve a mandatory treatment order. 

The decision on whether she will be banned from keeping pets will be reserved till then.

Related topics

mental illness animal abuse Dog court

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