SINGAPORE, Feb 24 —  In an attempt to live rent-free at a landed house in Paya Lebar, a woman had kept three dogs to deter her landlady from entering the property. However, when Chng Leng Khim, 43, moved out of the house without informing the landlady in June 2013, she left the dogs — a black poodle, a black chow chow and a fawn bull mastiff — behind to fend for themselves.

The dogs, which were then about five years old, were later found by the authorities in a miserable condition — they were thin and unwell, infected with ticks and covered by their urine and faeces.

Chng was yesterday (February 23) sentenced to 10 days’ jail and fined S$3,100 (RM9,300) for causing her dogs unnecessary suffering, keeping them without a licence and failing to comply with an order by the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) to help with investigations.

While investigations were ongoing, the dogs were cared for by the AVA. The fawn bull mastiff developed severe health issues and had to be put down, said the AVA in a press release yesterday. The other two dogs were rehomed.

The court heard that Chng had used the three dogs to fend off her landlady, Khoo Kim Cheng, who could not collect the rent owed as she was deterred by the dogs’ incessant barking from entering the property.

After living there for nearly six months on just two months’ rent and a S$1,500 deposit, Chng moved out of the house with her three children on June 11, 2013, without informing the landlady.

When Khoo and AVA officers showed up at the house on June 13, they found the dogs covered in filth.

The chow chow and bull mastiff were thin, infested with ticks and malnourished, the court heard. Investigations revealed that the two dogs had been suffering from these conditions “for the past few months”.

The poodle, found straying from the vicinity of the house, was “severely emaciated and malnourished”. It also  suffered from severe urinary tract infection and a bacterial illness transmitted through ticks, among other things.

While fines were generally imposed in past cases involving the same offence of causing unnecessary pain to animals, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Yanying called for a custodial term in Chng’s case.

DPP Tan pointed to the “numerous vulnerable victims” involved and how the neglect had persisted for a few months before detection.

Chng’s failure to take up licences for the dogs meant that the relevant authorities were not even aware she was keeping them.

“(Chng) had actively taken steps to evade AVA’s detection of her keeping dogs...(She) had not kept the three dogs purely as pets but exploited them to (fulfill) her desire to live rent-free,” DPP Tan said.

She added that Chng had shown a “blatant disregard” for the law and a clear intent to evade arrest. The AVA’s attempts to engage her were met with hostility — Chng refused to take any of its calls and deliberately failed to comply with repeated requests to assist in investigations.

The court heard that after almost two years of failed attempts to locate and engage Chng, the authorities arrested her on June 30 last year.

Yesterday, Chng told the court that she wanted to retract her plea of guilt, adding that she was “cornered” into entering the plea.

However, District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim, did not agree to her request, noting that Chng had understood the nature and consequences of her guilty plea.

Chng then indicated to the court that she intends to appeal against her conviction and sentence.

For causing unnecessary suffering to the dogs by failing to take them to a vet, Chng could have been jailed 12 months and/or fined S$10,000.

For failing to comply with AVA investigations, she could have been jailed for six months and/or fined S$10,000.

For keeping a dog above three months old without a licence, she could have been fined S$5,000. ― TODAY