Maid who abused dog to death: Authorities assessing whether to prosecute others involved in case
· CNA · JoinSINGAPORE: Authorities said on Thursday (Nov 28) that they are assessing if any other person should be prosecuted in the case of a maid abusing a poodle to death.
On Tuesday, Myanmar national Junny Lal Awn Pui was sentenced to nine months' jail after abusing the pet poodle, named Boyboy, by hitting it and hanging it from a balcony railing.
The 26-year-old was found guilty of three counts of animal cruelty.
Court documents showed that the maid had received instructions from her employer, a 37-year-old woman named Heng, to treat the poodle separately from her two other dogs.
This included instructions to hit the dog and hang it up.
The full names of the employer and other parties in the case were redacted in the court documents.
When asked if any action was taken against the employer, the National Parks Board (NParks) said NParks and the Attornery-General's Chambers are "assessing whether prosecutorial action should be taken against any other persons involved in this matter".
HIT DOG, TIED IT TO BALCONY RAILING
Boyboy had belonged to Heng’s boyfriend, a 43-year-old man named Lai. Lai and his previous girlfriend, Yap, had adopted the dog when they found it along Rochor Road in January 2015.
Lai kept the dog following his break-up with Yap in 2018. After he entered into a relationship with Heng, both agreed to keep the poodle at Heng's home.
Lai had installed a motion-sensor camera on the balcony where the dog slept.
The maid was captured on camera hitting and tying the poodle to the balcony railings on Jan 22. It later emerged that the maid was acting on Heng's instructions.
In one instance of abuse caught on camera, Junny Lal Awn Pui was seen pinning the dog to the ground and hitting it with her hand, before hitting the dog's head forcefully with a rod.
According to court documents, Heng had instructed the maid to hit the dog if it started eating without being told to do so. The rod was made by Heng rolling up pet food packaging.
The maid was also seen hanging Boyboy about 30cm from the ground by its harness from the balcony railing. This was also on Heng's instructions, in order to "expose it to the sun, ostensibly to reduce (the poodle's) odour".
From a video, the poodle appeared limp while it was tied to the railing.
Shortly after, the maid hit the poodle with the rod twice, causing it to "vocalise in pain", court documens showed.
The pet dog was later tied by a short leash under direct sunlight at the balcony. It lay motionless, only trembling and twitching occasionally.
Heng instructed the maid that afternoon to check on Boyboy. The maid found the dog biting its tongue and bleeding from its mouth. She informed her employer, and the two found that the dog had died.
Junny Lal Awn Pui then picked up Boyboy and tossed its body to one side of the balcony.
Later that day, Heng contacted Mandai Pet Sanctuary to arrange for the dog’s carcass to be collected for cremation.
The carcass was transported to Mandai and placed inside a fridge after Heng informed the driver to hold off on the cremation, as she wanted to inform Lai first.
Heng drove herself and the maid to Lai's house at about 5pm. He returned home at about 10pm, and they celebrated Lai's birthday before Heng told Lai that Boyboy had died.
The dog was cremated at Mandai the next day. Lai noticed that the dog's limbs were straightened. He became suspicious and viewed the CCTV footage.
Boyboy’s possessions, including its bowl, soap, brush, towel and toy bone, the rod, as well as the CCTV camera, were disposed of by Heng on Jan 24, two days after the acts of abuse.
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