Pet shop apologises, has fired 'young boy' caught on video hitting puppy repeatedly with cane

It happened a year ago.

A pet shop has apologised for a "distressing" incident caught on video showing a then-employee using a cane to hit a puppy repeatedly.

Even though the incident took place last November, the video surfaced online in recent days and went viral, prompting the East Coast Road pet shop, Whatupdawg, to respond to the fresh outrage.

@chippiesming

In an Instagram post on Nov 21, the company said: "We sincerely apologise for the distressing incident involving our former staff member, Mr Sim, who was reported to have mistreated one of our puppies back in Nov 22 last year.

"We became aware of this issue only on June 23 of this year when approached by NParks/AVS. Subsequently, Mr Sim was dismissed and appropriate actions were taken following reports from AVS and NParks."

Whatupdawg shared a screenshot of a message from the Animal and Veterinary Services (AVS) to Mr Sim about an incident involving him dated June 23.

The pet shop also requested: "Please refrain from asking for his details as I prefer not to disclose them to prevent any potential issues for the young boy. He was at fault, and the authorities have already taken action against him. If you require further detailed information about him, please reach out to the authorities."

Whatupdawg added that it would seek legal advice to take action against the person who posted the video and falsely claimed that the incident happened recently.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) addressed the video on Facebook on Nov 22: "This is an old video which was reported to the SPCA in November 2022.

"Our Inspectorate had escalated the case to the authorities. They have since taken enforcement action against the offender for causing unnecessary pain or suffering to the dog."

In response to a Stomp query, Ms Jessica Kwok, Group Director of AVS, said that AVS received feedback on Nov 11, 2022, about an alleged case of animal cruelty that took place on the same day at a pet shop along East Coast Road.

"AVS has completed investigations into the matter and taken enforcement action against the offender for animal cruelty," said Ms Kwok.

"AVS does not condone mistreatment of pets and first-time offenders caught abusing an animal may be charged under the Animals and Birds Act, and could be fined up to $15,000, jailed up to 18 months, or both."

The case is reminiscent of a more recent incident earlier this month where a woman was caught on video threatening a dog with a cane at Pek Kio Market and Food Centre.