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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

comment on tnp article and legal action

Regarding Dane's story on TNP today as well as to answer some of your queries on how the dog is doing now.

Dane is now in Leo's safe hands and Leo will be keeping Dane and taking good care of him. Leo is knowledgeable about big dogs and Dane is now in Leo's loving home. Thank you to all who have offered to re-adopt Dane. Rest assured that he is now safe and happy. Aswat saw Dane yesterday when Leo brought him out to the shop. Dane was so happy to see Aswat and ran to him. I think if I could have been able to make then it to see him too, I would have cried with joy.

As for the 'seller's' point of view on how the dog chewed stuff and ruined his mother's things in that few days between his adoption and re-sale: Firstly, all authentic dog owners know that puppies are playful. They need toys and attention as well as training. The house should also be pet safe so that the dog does not get electric shocks from playing with wires and electrical appliances. This is the basic responsibility of any dog or puppy owner. It is not Dane's fault. And Dane was underfed. This is animal mistreatment. That's two counts of irresponsible pet owner behaviour.

If you truly needed to compensate your mother for the money, then you should have claimed so on the advertisment. The new owner will know that Dane is active and will need toys and training to prevent the same thing from happening.

You should not also lie about where the dog is from. He is adopted. Say so. Don't say pet farm. Let alone claim you paid $4k for it.

And this is not an isolated case. Dane is not the first dog to be adopted-then-resold-for-profit. Jeff has made this into his business. Once is a mistake. More than that, a pattern emerges. Income needs to be declared to IRAS (he must have made more than enough declarable income by now, plus he is studying here, not working). Selling dogs from your house means you need an AVA license.

As for whether we are pursuing the case legally, we are leaving it to Leo and the other aggrieved parties who have lost dogs through Jeff before to handle it.

Regarding the adoption contract for future adoption cases through Ubi Kuching Project - I have not had the time to make my second draft yet but we are following closely to the one SPCA has. I am not legally trained by profession but I did read three modules of law for my degree, including contract law and tort, plus I have had a lawyer reader who has offered to review our adoption contract for us pro bono. Thank you all for your concern, you have been a blessing.