[*Update: Apr. 3, 1453hrs]: In response to Mothership.sg's queries, AVA spokesperson said:

"Francis Lee is an external contractor engaged by AVA to assist in the management of stray dogs.

In Dec last year, there was a case of an attack on a member of the public by a stray dog in the Tuas Bay Street Area. There was also a separate case of a pack of stray dogs chasing a cyclist in the same area. To protect public safety, Francis Lee was engaged to manage the stray dogs in Feb this year. We have received feedback about the way Francis Lee went about doing the work. We are investigating the matter and have stopped engaging him to carry out any job pending the outcome of our investigations."

Not all wild animals in Singapore are as lucky as these fluffy cute Straw-headed Bulbuls which grew up well under the care of their parents or fortunate enough to meet kind hoomans like Save Our Street Dogs(SOSD) volunteers.

One Facebook user, Shariff Fudin, recently discovered an infamous stray-catcher is back in action - this time, taking 5 young puppies away that cannot live without Mummy dog's milk.

Sorry to break your heart, yes all 5 of them died.

Here's his post on Feb 10 about his encounter:

Just in case you cannot see:

These new-borns were so young that they were not able to open their eyes yet.

This was what he wrote in the post:

PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE THIS POST AND SHARE IT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.

THESE PUPPIES HAVE NOT EVEN OPENED THEIR EYES, AND YET ARE REMOVED FROM THEIR MUM.

THEY STILL NEED TO FEED ON THEIR MUM'S MILK.

My wife was told that a litter of 5 puppies were found inside the compound of a Pharmaceutical company, which I won't name here.

A friend and herself proceed to save those puppies by relocating them out of those premises as the pest control were called in. Fortunately, they managed to get those puppies out.

Soon after, I arrived at the location that we were supposed to meet and we decided to put those puppies amongst a cluster of trees out in the open field. It was a huge field, and furthermore, the mummy dog was keeping a safe distance from us.

A few minutes later, an uncle who works in the nearby plant was seen carrying a large, red plastic bag, which I assume is full of food for the dogs. We called out to him and the four of us planned on what is bent for the puppies.

After we have decided on which cluster of fir trees would be suitable to place them, we set the

box which the 5 puppies were in down in a nice, secluded section tof the trees, with low lying brush which was well hidden from view, especially from road users that pry the stretch of road nearby. I even erected my light, green colored umbrella to provide some shade, either from the sun or rain.

The uncle placed the food down nearby, a mix of leftovers which he has collected from the canteen.

Then, as the Sun is setting down in the horizon, we decided to leave them behind, so that the mummy could come to them.

My wife and I passed by the road every evening, for the past two days and we saw the same uncle who frequently feeds the strays and we asked him about the puppies. He said they were doing fine.

Then today, my wife messaged me that he has information from another one of the uncles working in the nearby plant that the puppies were gone. He said that a pick up truck has stopped by the roadside and a man with a cage was seen walking out from the bushes, with all the puppies in it.

The uncle asked him what is he trying to do. The mysterious man said he is putting them up for adoption. My wife sensed that something is amiss.; she decided to show the uncle a photo of a pick up truck.

Lo and behold, it’s the same pick up truck driven by a Francis Lee, the infamous dog catcher.

In response to his post:

Netizens echoed that the puppies were unable to live and some of them seemed to know this stray-catcher named Francis Lee.

In the comment thread, it was mentioned that the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) used to engage his services.

There is even a Facebook group called 'Spot AVA & Pests Control Van, post here', created to track the movements of Lee that has regular updates of his whereabouts - showing that he is still lurking around to catch stray animals.

In 2012, the agency announced that they stopped engaging Lee's stray catching services but there was a comment that said that there was a possibility that he was contracted again recently.

Several netizens have asked and have been waiting for an update from AVA and finally one of them, Joanne Wu, ended everyone's wait and shared the agency's response with the rest:

TL;DR:

1. Yes, puppies were in AVA premises and died :'(

2. Yes, AVA still engaging Lee (as of Feb 13 when the comment was posted)

The issue with Lee was with his stray-catching methods. An example shared by a netizen said Lee tried using tension wires to catch 3 month old puppies that could barely fend for themselves.

From the group that tracks Lee, he also uses wide nets, wooden rod and metal cages.

Here's a video of him trying to exonerate himself for using the extensively wide net on the roadside to catch some wild animals. He had flashed a card at the camera but it was unclear whether that was a permit or just an ordinary name card.

Mothership.sg has sought comments from AVA and have yet to receive any response. We will update the story if there are any new developments.

Top photo from Facebook user Shariff Fudin

You might also be interested in this:

Budget 2017 measures for SMEs are so technical, we decide to rewrite them in English

Related articles:

AVA learns its lesson from Sin Ming chickens, goes on to cull chickens believed to be red junglefowl in Pasir Ris

AVA investigating landed property owner who kept dog in small cage round-the-clock, not protected from rain or sun

If you like what you read, follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest updates.