The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA), said in a press release yesterday that Muhammad Adam Yap Abdullah was also sentenced to three months in jail for subjecting the puppies to unnecessary suffering or pain.
Both sentences are to run concurrently. It didn’t say when the sentencing took place.
According to a report in Channel News Asia, Muhammad Adam, 42, was driving a Malaysia-registered car through the Woodlands Checkpoint on May 19 when he was stopped and checked.
Immigration officers uncovered four poodles and two shih tzus hidden in a modified compartment underneath the rear passenger seat of the car.
The puppies were undergoing quarantine to check for signs of infectious diseases such as rabies, the report said.
The importation of any animal without an AVA permit is illegal and carries a maximum penalty of S$10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year, according to the AVA.
This is not the first time a Malaysian has been jailed for smuggling dogs into Singapore.
A 25-year-old man was sentenced to five months in jail for importing seven puppies into Singapore without permits in April last year. He too received a three-month jail term, to run consecutively, for subjecting the puppies to suffering and pain.
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