The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) is looking into feedback that a pet shop, AG Pets Toa Payoh, located at Block 69 Toa Payoh Lorong 4, may have been improperly handling the animals for sale in their premises.

One person, Felicia Tan, posted on AVA's Facebook page, having reportedly seen AG Pets keep their hamsters in unsatisfactory conditions and feeding them with cat kibbles.

Tan had also brought one of the hamsters in the pet shop to the vet for urgent medical attention, after realising it was lying on its side and breathing heavily.

According to Tan, the pet shop owner was unwilling to bring the hamster for treatment, and despite her attempt to get it to the vet, it passed away before it received any medical attention.

Dead fishes were also allegedly seen.

If you can't see the post and the attached photo, here it is:

On 27 June 2017, I passed by this pet shop (AG Pets Toa Payoh) located at 69 Lor 4 Toa Payoh, to my horror, I saw 4 syrian hamsters housed in a small tank. They were all hunched up in the corners and they were being fed with CAT KIBBLES. How did I know it was cat kibbles? Please advise which hamster food is shaped like a fish. Please zoom in to attached photo in comment section. I looked over to the next tank and saw a tiny hamster laying on its side and was breathing heavily. His bottom was soiled and sticky that it was attracting bugs. The pet shop owner did not believe that the hamster was sick when informed, and proceeded to knock on the tank. He then scooped the poor hamster out with it's food bowl, yes he scooped it out. The pet shop owner then hurried to the back of the shop and just left it on the shelf. There was NO quarantine area! How can a shop sell live animals without any quarantine when this is necessary under the rules and regulations?

The pet shop owner was not willing to bring the hamster to the vet when it desperately needed medical attention, and only reluctantly gave it when I mentioned that I will cover the hamster's vet fees. Unfortunately, the hamster passed away before the vet could put it to sleep. There was no hope due to the irresponsible pet shop owner's negligence. At least the hamster experienced some love and warmth before it's passing, and was cremated and not dumped into the rubbish bin at the back of the shop like the other DEAD FISHES that I saw.

In addition, there is no proper food (hay) for the rabbit(s) sold at this pet shop.

Up to this day, I still feel horrible for not being able to help this poor hamster more. And it is therefore your duty to follow up with irresponsible pet shops like this "AG Pets Toa Payoh", their license should be suspended.

More photos were provided by Tan in the comments section as well, documenting the pet store's conditions.

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The hamsters in the photo below were huddling together, which is a sign of stress.

Other issues with the pet shop were flagged by other people with more photos of the pet shop's alleged poor conditions.

In response to Mothership.sg queries, AVA said:

AVA last inspected the pet shop in June 2017. No breaches of our licensing conditions were found. There were also no signs of animal welfare being compromised.

AVA is investigating into this recent feedback.

A quick search on Google Reviews (the pet shop doesn't seem to have social media pages, it seems) reveals curious comments, too.

By Syrians, this commenter is most likely referring to Syrian hamsters - the white ones as seen in the picture above, huddling around in a corner.

Top image adapted via Felicia Tan's Facebook post