S'pore pet cremation firm staff allegedly collected dead pet dog & dumped body into rubbish bin below block

A 46-year-old man in Singapore is accusing an employee of a pet cremation company of dumping his deceased pet dog's body into the rubbish bin under a block of flats instead of cremating it properly.

The owner of the deceased dog said he personally saw the body in the bottom of the dumpster when he went to throw rubbish.

Pet cremation company

Shin Min Daily News reported that Liu Jianping (transliterated) and his wife had a female Dachshund named "Kimi" since 2010.

Kimi lived till 16 years old before it died on Jul. 19.

Given that the dog lived a long life, Liu was not overly sad, Shin Min reported, adding that he went online to find out how to dispose of Kimi's remains.

Liu said: "I found a company called 'Express Pet Cremation' that specialises in pet cremation. After cremation, they would scatter the ashes into the sea."

"One of their male employees came to my house early that morning to pick up the dog's body, put it in a bag, and left," Liu added.

He said the male employee gave him an invoice and asked him to transfer S$180.

The invoice stated that Kimi's body would be cremated in the Ubi area, Shin Min reported.

Found dog in rubbish bin

Liu then went to throw some items in the rubbish bin below his block shortly after.

"When I went downstairs, I saw the male employee waiting for a taxi," said Liu, adding that "he didn't have any bags in his hand".

Liu found it strange that this was the case.

When Liu was throwing the trash, he found a black garbage bag in the large green rubbish dumpster.

He instinctively wondered if it might be his dog, Shin Min reported.

According to Liu, the bag reportedly looked like it had been deliberately stuffed into the bottom of the rubbish dumpster.

"When I opened it, I was shocked to find Kimi, who had been with us for 16 years," he said, adding that his hands were shaking.

"When my wife saw it, she cried on the spot."

His mother also cried when she found out about the incident, he added.

Liu said he had intended to give his dog a proper send-off all along.

"We've all been very sad these past few days," he said.

"I keep thinking, if I hadn't happened to find it, would the body have just been left there?"

Reported case

Following this, Liu brought Kimi's body to a nearby police station and reported the incident.

When contacted by a Shin Min reporter, an individual from Express Pet Cremation reportedly said he would investigate the matter.

Afterwards, he allegedly stopped answering calls or replying to messages from Shin Min.

Mothership has reached out to Express Pet Cremation for more information.

Contacted another pet cremation company

Shin Min reported that Liu later contacted a different company to assist with his dog's cremation.

He spent another S$198.

He added that the second company was extremely responsible and sent him pictures before the cremation.

The company will also send him pictures next month when Kimi's ashes get scattered in the sea.

Liu told Shin Min that he contacted Express Pet Cremation and asked for a refund, but claimed to not have received any response to date.

Pets cannot be buried in a public area

According to the Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS), a pet can be buried in a person's private property or land, but not in a public area.

Under the Environmental Public Health (Public Cleansing) Regulations, the burial of animal carcasses is not permitted in public places.

In addition, the handling of a pet's body depends on its size.

According to the National Environment Agency (NEA) website, their waste-to-energy (WTE) plants are not designed for the cremation of large animal carcasses, such as dogs and cats.

Owners of large pets are to engage the services of commercial animal crematoriums.

Small pet carcasses, such as hamsters, fish or birds, can be disposed of by securely double-bagging them and placing them in a general waste bin.

Alternatively, owners of small pets may also consider engaging the services of commercial animal crematoriums.