Man tried to enter Singapore at Tuas Checkpoint with 12 sedated puppies in his car – 3 died after

On Tuesday, December 11, a Singaporean man tried to enter Singapore at Tuas Checkpoint with 12 sedated puppies stashed in the spare tyre compartment of his car. Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers apprehended him, and he is currently under investigation. Three of the little puppies eventually died.

Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) reported the incident in a joint news release on Thursday, December 13.

It was around 3:45AM on Tuesday, December 11, at Tuas Checkpoint. A 25-year-old Singaporean man was stopped by officers for what was supposed to be a routine car boot check. During the inspection, an ICA officer noticed that something was not quite right – “anomalies” were spotted in the car boot. The officers then decided to look further.

When the officers removed the spare tyre and then the cover of the spare tyre compartment, they found 12 sedated puppies cramped and squeezed into the compartment.

Some of the sedated puppies were weak, and sadly, three eventually died.

“As the driver did not possess valid health certificate and import permits, he was referred to the AVA for investigation,” said the release.

The nine surviving puppies are currently under quarantine at AVA’s facilities.

According to the news release, “animals that are smuggled into Singapore are of unknown health status and may introduce exotic diseases, such as rabies, into the country”.

AVA strictly regulates the import of animals to prevent the introduction and spread of exotic diseases into Singapore and of course to safeguard the health and welfare of the animals.

AVA said that it is illegal to import any animals without a proper AVA permit and declared the maximum penalty at $10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

“Our borders are our first line of defence in safeguarding Singapore’s security. The security checks are critical to our nation’s security. The ICA will continue to conduct security checks on passengers and vehicles at the checkpoints to prevent attempts to smuggle in undesirable persons, drugs, weapons, explosives and other contrabands,” said the ICA-AVA joint statement.

The ICA published this post on their Facebook page:

The surviving puppies are still under quarantine, but we hope that they eventually get adopted into good homes where they will be cared for properly.