Woman gets Singapore’s first jail term for keeping animals for sale at unlicensed premises

Picture for illustration purposes only. A 28-year-old woman has become the first person in Singapore to receive a custodial sentence for keeping animals in captivity for sale at unlicensed premises. — Picture by Raymond Manuel

First Published: Wednesday, 16 Sep 2026 7:46 PM MYT

SINGAPORE, Sept 16 — A 28-year-old woman has become the first person in Singapore to receive a custodial sentence for keeping animals in captivity for sale at unlicensed premises.

Such an act is an offence under Section 48(1) of the Animals and Birds Act, according to the National Parks Board (NParks) in a statement yesterday.

The case came to light after the woman, Ng Siew Teng, and her husband, Callurn Lim, 34, were arrested on December 27, 2023 for their involvement in a scheme to illegally import puppies from Malaysia for sale in Singapore.

The scheme was uncovered when Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers found five smuggled puppies, including two in a pet carrier placed in a plastic storage container, during an inspection of a vehicle at Woodlands Checkpoint.

“Investigations found that the couple had kept illicitly imported puppies at their residence, and profited approximately S$21,000 (RM66,720) from selling 21 puppies through Instagram,” NParks said. 

Ng and Lim pleaded guilty to five charges under the Animals and Birds Act and were each sentenced to 19 weeks and three days’ imprisonment and a fine of S$5,000 on August 5 and September 11, respectively.

This included a sentence of three days’ imprisonment and the maximum fine of S$5,000 for the Section 48(1) charge.

In a separate case, Sundra Pandian, 33, received the heaviest sentence to date for the same offence after 13 smuggled animals were found at his residence.

NParks said the animals were smuggled from Thailand through Malaysia by a transnational syndicate for sale in Singapore.

Pandian pleaded guilty to nine charges under the Animals and Birds Act and was sentenced to 24 weeks’ imprisonment on August 17.

The sentence included two weeks’ imprisonment for keeping animals in captivity for sale at unlicensed premises, the heaviest sentence meted out to date for the offence.

NParks said the case also involved Chow Chee Hoe, 25, who had facilitated the sale of the smuggled animals by collecting the animals from Pandian and selling them to prospective buyers in Singapore.

Chow pleaded guilty to one charge under the Animals and Birds (Licensing of Premises for Pet Shop and Other Purposes) Rules and was fined S$4,000 on September 1. — Bernama