A temple in Singapore has threatened to take legal action against a woman and a dog welfare group who accused the temple's personnel of mistreating a dog kept on temple grounds.

Temple's statement

In a Facebook post on Sep. 19, 2021, Sheng Hong Temple in Pandan Gardens issued a statement to reject claims that its personnel has been mistreating a dog kept on its premises.

Sheng Hong Temple said it reserves the right "to take legal actions" against the animal welfare group, Chained Dog Awareness in Singapore, and the woman, Melody Yap, who first posted about the dog's condition.

The post was subsequently taken down and a new one was put up.

What happened

Yap first posted about the dog on Sep. 16.

She claimed the dog was kept in a cage in the temple since it was a puppy, and has seen dried faeces by the cage where the dog is kept, as well as fish bones fed as food to the dog.

The dog's cage is also described as a "three-tile space" where the dog was required to sleep, walk around, eat and defecate.

Yap wrote in her post: "I made a few visits recently and every single time, the cage was filled with dried-up poop, algae-filled water bowl and leftover human food filled with bones!"

She also claimed the dog was exposed to the fumes emanating from regular monthly fumigation of the temple premises.

Asked for dog to be freed

Yap said she could no longer tolerate what she witnessed and confronted the temple personnel to ask for the dog to be released and rehomed, but was flat out rejected.

She wrote: "It is completely beyond my comprehension why a temple would rather see her suffer in captivity than to accept help from others. After all, the dog means nothing to them, so why not let someone who cares take the dog?"

Yap said she requested for the temple chairman to call her to speak about the dog's situation and how she could help.

Instead of receiving a response to her feedback, Yap said the temple chairman "didn't bother reaching out at all".

She added: "I was simply rejected by the admin staff, citing stupid reasons like how the board of association has ancestral beliefs and values as to why the dog has to be treated this way."

"What could they be? In my thirty-odd years of being a Buddhist, I would honestly like to learn what sort of beliefs these could be."

She then urged people to share her post and to also visit the temple to see the situation for themselves.

Yap's post included photos of the dog in the cage, as well as faeces near the cage.

A video, believed to have been taken a while back, showed two dogs instead of one inside a cage with a partition between the dogs.

A comment on the video said one dog had already died, but did not indicate when or if the existing dog is one of the dogs in the video.

Dog welfare group responds

On the same day on Sep. 16, the Chained Dog Awareness in Singapore group shared Yap's post and urged people to visit the temple and see for themselves how the dog is being treated.

The group also urged people to appeal to the temple to have the dog released.

Temple said it will seek advice from government agencies

In response to the allegations, the temple said it is common for religious organisations to keep dogs on their premises.

It also claimed the dog, June, was not mistreated as it is given two meals a day, a shelter that meets requirements set out by the Animal Veterinary Service (AVS), and regular washing to keep it clean.

The temple also clarified that the dog is only kept in the cage during the day to keep it away from temple goers.

The temple will also be providing a bigger cage after consulting the relevant government departments, the statement read.

False allegations

The temple also called the recent accusations out as false allegations, and said it could not understand why there are some who are sharing old photos and videos of the dogs.

The temple's statement also made a reference that is allegedly directed at Yap, saying she had identified herself to the temple personnel as a reporter.

The temple said it will "seek verification of her identity" and is reserving the right to take legal action against the woman and Chained Dog Awareness in Singapore.

Chained Dog Awareness in Singapore responds with another post

In response to the temple's threat of legal action, Chained Dog Awareness in Singapore appeared unfazed as it put up a new post on Sep. 19 to highlight how a caged dog released by another temple now has a new lease on life.

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