Hi Everyone!

Apologies for the very delayed update, and thank you once again for all the support on this petition. I am incredibly thankful to everyone who signed it, shared it, and promoted it on this platform for further outreach. 

I had fortunately received helpful responses from several ministers in Singapore, and specifically, the email to Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong was forwarded to the National Parks Board (NParks) for their attention. We were able to schedule a discussion regarding the concerns raised in this petition when I was back in Singapore a few months ago.

The NParks team that I met with included the Director and the Deputy Director for Enforcement and Investigation, as well as a veterinarian involved in the postmortems of the reported abuse cases. During the meeting, they explained their investigation process and how cases were handled from report to prosecution. Based on their explanation, this process was definitely more thorough and meticulous than what the public (including myself) thought, and was done for every single reported case. Additionally, since I had the benefit of being a final year vet student, the veterinarian also discussed her postmortem findings with me for some of the cases raised, which I agreed were more consistent with accidental injury rather than abuse, despite how the images appeared and were sensationalised. Some of these were briefly covered in a media release, which can be found here: https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/30/2fde88fa-378b-47fe-bad1-e5863faced50/Media%20Release%20-%20Safeguarding%20pet%20cats%20and%20dogs%20against%20falling%20from%20height.pdf 

From the session, even though I knew that it was in their interest to “tackle the noisiest”, which I pointed out during our meeting, I also knew that I was speaking to a team that, like me, cared about animal welfare and wanted to reduce the cases of both accidental and non-accidental injury in animals. Animal abuse is the manifestation of other deeper-rooted issues that cannot be tackled by legislation alone. We also discussed other means of animal abuse prevention, and the team mentioned that there are increasing efforts being made in public schools to inculcate care for animals.

My main goal for this petition was, as the title states, to call for “Harsher Sentences for Animal Abuse in Singapore”. The NParks team were not able to disclose exactly what was underway on the legal side of things, but when asked if they were “hopeful that legislation will be amended in the near future”, they mentioned that they were. 

I really hoped for this petition to bring about a more tangible outcome, and I regret that I am not sharing better news. That said, I am incredibly heartened by the sheer number of people who resonated with this petition and are fervent about protecting animal welfare in Singapore. We were successful to the point of a media mention and a meeting with the relevant government sector, which is a huge win in its own right, and we should be proud of ourselves for trying. Singapore is definitely still behind other developed countries in animal welfare laws. However, I am certain that we are taking steps in the correct direction, especially with the new 2026 Veterinary Practice Bill. Until then, we can only teach our young, remain vigilant, and report our concerns, trusting that the authorities will also do their due diligence. 

With that, I will be closing this petition indefinitely. Thank you all once again!

Sincerely, 

Bethany Lim