SINGAPORE – A maid who beat a dog belonging to the employer’s boyfriend, with the dog later dying, was sentenced on Nov 26 to nine months’ jail.
Junny Lal Awm Pui, 26, a Myanmar national, pleaded guilty to three charges under the Animals and Birds Act – two over cruelly beating an animal, and one over unreasonably doing an act causing it unnecessary pain and suffering.
Another charge under the same act was taken into consideration during her sentencing.
In sentencing Junny Lal Awm Pui, District Judge Ow Yong Tuck Leong said that while it was not disputed that the maid was acting on the instructions of her employer to discipline the dog by hitting it, she could have controlled her strength in doing so.
A report prepared by two vets indicated that the dog, a poodle named Boyboy estimated to be 15 years old, experienced severe pain and suffering.
They added that it was very likely the blows to the head would have caused the dog to suffer painful head trauma and subsequent incapacitation, given the way it was handled and abused by Junny Lal Awm Pui.
One of them said that in the absence of any other likely contributing factors, the repeated traumatic beatings would have very likely caused its death.
The Straits Times has contacted the National Parks Board (NParks) to ask if any action is being taken against the maid’s employer, a 37-year-old woman whom court documents refer to as Heng.
NParks prosecuting officers Lee Zu Zhao and Farisha Asharaff said Boyboy had been picked up from the street by its owner, whom court documents refer to as Lai, and his previous girlfriend in Rochor Road in January 2015.
Unable to find the original owner, they adopted the dog, but broke up in 2018.
After Lai started a relationship with Heng, the two kept Boyboy in her home from July 5, 2023.
Heng instructed Junny Lal Awm Pui to confine the dog to the balcony and feed it separately from her two other dogs.
On Jan 22, 2024, after filling Boyboy’s food bowl at about 10am, Junny Lal Awm Pui saw that it had started eating its food before being allowed to do so.
As Heng had instructed the maid to hit the dog if it did this, she grabbed it by the neck, pinned it to the ground and hit it four times on the head with her hands.
She also used a rod, which Heng had devised by rolling up pet food packaging, to hit the dog forcefully on the head.
Boyboy struggled and tried to escape but was unable to do so.
