PET groomer Sun Hu was jailed two weeks for using a clipper to hit a dog last month.
The three-year-old Maltese terrier died of head injuries while still on the grooming table.
A district court heard on Friday that Sun, 24, had been working for a year at the Strawberry Pet Shop in Corporation Road in Jurong.
On Sept 13, Mr Deva Rajan Kamalasanan, 47, brought his pet, Junior, to the shop for grooming. About 30 minutes later, he received a phone call telling him that his pet had died.
A post-mortem by the Veterinary Pathology Branch of the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) revealed that the dog had been hit on the head.
The maximum punishment is a $10,000 fine and a year in jail.
Horowitz was able to show that the human tendency to attribute a “guilty look” to a dog was not due to whether the dog was indeed guilty. Instead, people see ‘guilt’ in a dog’s body language when they believe the dog has done something it shouldn’t have – even if the dog is in fact completely innocent of any offense.
During the study, owners were asked to leave the room after ordering their dogs not to eat a tasty treat. While the owner was away, Horowitz gave some of the dogs this forbidden treat before asking the owners back into the room. In some trials the owners were told that their dog had eaten the forbidden treat; in others, they were told their dog had behaved properly and left the treat alone. What the owners were told, however, often did not correlate with reality.
Whether the dogs' demeanor included elements of the "guilty look" had little to do with whether the dogs had actually eaten the forbidden treat or not. Dogs looked most “guilty” if they were admonished by their owners for eating the treat. In fact, dogs that had been obedient and had not eaten the treat, but were scolded by their (misinformed) owners, looked more “guilty” than those that had, in fact, eaten the treat. Thus the dog’s guilty look is a response to the owner’s behavior, and not necessarily indicative of any appreciation of its own misdeeds.
This study sheds new light on the natural human tendency to interpret animal behavior in human terms. Anthropomorphisms compare animal behavior to human behavior, and if there is some superficial similarity, then the animal behavior will be interpreted in the same terms as superficially similar human actions. This can include the attribution of higher-order emotions such as guilt or remorse to the animal.
The editor of the special issue, Clive D.L. Wynne of the Department of Psychology, University of Florida, explained, “this is a remarkably powerful demonstration of the need for careful experimental designs if we are to understand the human-dog relationship and not just reify our natural prejudices about animal behavior.” He pointed out that dogs are the oldest domesticated species and have a uniquely intimate role in the lives of millions of people. Recent research on dogs has indicated more human-like forms of reasoning about what people know than has been demonstrated even in chimpanzees.
Elsevier (2009, June 14). What Really Prompts The Dog's 'Guilty Look'. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 15, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2009/06/090611065839.htm#
Its main purpose is to treat Parvovirus actually, but since parvovirus attacks the gastro-intestinal tract, parvaid can do wonders for vomitting, diarrhea, fever, dehydration and of course, bloat, just to name a few.| Taken from: Straits Times, http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_381120.html?vgnmr=1 Cat food recalled By Serene Luo |
Mars Petcare, the parent company, had earlier this week announced a voluntary recall of the products in the United States, due to excessive zinc levels and under-supplements of potassium.
It said there had been a production error by one of its US-based premix suppliers.
The two affected mixes are: Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care Dry Cat Foods and Nutro Max Cat Dry Foods.
The two mixes come in 28 different product varieties, and have 'best before' dates of between May 12, 2010 and August 22, 2010.
Pet owners who have bought the products are advised to stop giving their cats the food immediately, and should monitor their cats for symptoms such as lack of appetite, weight loss, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Should their cats show such symptoms, the owners are advised to take them to a veterinarian for medical treatment.
The AVA is also working with supermarkets and pet stores to pull the products from shelves, a spokesman said.
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The park however said its move was not due to pressure by the seven animal welfare groups which have launched an online petition that has gathered more than 9,000 signatures."The MLP team does not take its responsibilities to both conservation and Singapore lightly and as such, we spent the past two years doing much groundwork," it said in a statement to AFP.
"We strongly believe that our action must be governed by the conservation of this species rather than what is dictated by fleeting public opinion."
We don't really care, as long as the interests of the whale sharks are protected.
Hopefully, the government will approve the change made in the proposal.
To find out more about why we do not want the whale sharks in captivity, read:
http://the5rascals.blogspot.com/2009/03/save-whale-sharks.html
This is especially true when the immune system is already not at its best (eg. when sick, weak, stressed, too young, or when the dog's immune system has been surpressed by previous disease or drug therapy (including steroids & anti-biotics)).
"Besides the possibility that they [vaccinations] may not work, vaccines might also cause an acute disease or a chronic health problem."
Credits to http://www.techdivethailand.com/wreck-diving-photos.htmLouis: Whale sharks are a species vulnerable to extinction and efforts must be undertaken to protect all remaining wild populations. There can be no merit from removing a whale shark from its natural environment for a life in captivity.
On top of this, whale sharks can dive up to 980 metres and migrate over 13 thousand kilometres. No man-made environment, no matter how large, could accomodate their needs.
Evidence has shown that whale sharks fare poorly in captivity. In fact, two whale sharks - Ralph and Norton - died within five months of each other at the Georgia aquarium, U.S.A.
M: Do you think that Resorts World Sentosa will be able to provide appropriate care for the whale sharks in the oceanarium? Are there any specific tips on whale shark husbandry ACRES recommends?
Louis: ACRES would like to stress that we are not against the keeping of certain species in captivity. It is, however, simply impossible to cater for the needs of whale sharks in captivity and they should thus never be captured and kept in captivity.
M: If these whale sharks were NOT to be imported, is there any other way people can appreciate the world's aquatic biodiversity and promote conservation action in Singapore?
Louis: There has been no scientific evidence to justify the positive educational aspects of captive facilities. ACRES strongly believes that people can learn about aquatic biodiversity through visiting nature reserves like Chek Jawa and also seeing these animals in the wild. In fact, we believe that these create a more educational experience, without compromising the welfare of the animals.
M: The whale sharks are endangered. What is considered good conservation strategy for them?
Louis: A good conservation strategy is to protect the sharks in the wild and protect their habitats. Awareness must be and can be raised in Singapore and other countries without having whale sharks in captivity.
M: Should the whale sharks ultimately be in the oceanarium, what is the best advice you can give guests and Resorts World Sentosa themselves.
Louis: If the whales sharks are housed in RWS, we will be urging people to boycott the facility.
**UPDATES**
* http://the5rascals.blogspot.com/2009/05/whale-sharks-may-not-be-brought-in-to.html
After M came home, we saw her take out the box and packet. This is D's present to us. We smelt FOOOD, but it wasnt the usual kind like our natural raw diet. We still thought it smelt good though.
Life is SO UNFAIR! Look what I got, compared to Apollo!
I only had ONE pizza crisp, Apollo had THREE!
Let the eating begin!
M giving me a piece of cake. And look at the greedy monster behind!
I think he is having hallucinations! When the cake is going in MY mouth, he opens his too!
Pigging out.
By the time Apollo was finished, I still had THIS much cake left.
M feeding Apollo.
Apollo: I WANT MOREEEEEEEEE!
M: Awwww, this melts my heart.
Oh yes, we forgot to mention. M says that our presents this year would be our clicker training courses. She seems to love clicker, or rather, marker training! And we love it too cause we understand it now and the click means REWARDS!!
Wonderful ME getting a treat from M.
M waited for me to get distracted before calling me! How devious!
Eyeing the TREAT! Yummie!Helllooo Hooo-mans and Woofies alike! This is Tinker here again, reporting from D's house.
We had a tiring day! I am happy that this year D was around to celebrate my birthday. We went to M's house and played with Apollo, Candy and Auntie F! However, I wasn't too happy when D gave me a smacking for being naughty to Candy. =(
Welllll, on the bright side, he bought me a big beautiful cake from US Doggie Bakery. There were a few hiccups - the cake was wrong, came late and we were charged the wrong price, but the kind baker and driver has sorted it out with M. We all agreed to overlook the wrong cake thing since the cake was already here and we couldnt wait to dig in!
My Delicious Cakie Wakie! Yummieee!
We were supposed to have the cake with fresh strawberries, but oh well. Even the Hooo-mans ate the cake and thought it was quite good!
M said that Apollo could only eat a little little bit, but D didn’t listen! It made M frown a little, but Apollo boy was so happy!
See the icing on Apollo boy's nose?
Candy was acting high class and only wanted the cake when it came with a lot of icing.
I ate A LOT and I LOVE IT!! Here is a peekture of me eating:
I got so messy that D had to bathe me after that! Hoho.
Anyway, I came to a conclusion that BarkDays should be celebrated 365 days a year. I know it is impossible, but its not too bad, 10 days till Apollo & Candy's BarkDay and another cake will be coming!
