Woman, 28, kept smuggled puppies at home to sell online, first in S'pore to be jailed for such offence

A 28-year-old woman in Singapore and her 34-year-old husband have been sentenced to jail for illegally importing puppies from Malaysia and keeping them at home to be sold on Instagram.

They are among the first individuals in the country to be jailed for keeping animals in captivity to be sold as pets.

Separately, another 33-year-old man received the highest sentence to date for a similar offence of keeping 13 smuggled animals at his residence.

Husband-and-wife couple illegally imported puppies

The 28-year-old woman, Ng Siew Teng, and her husband Callurn Lim, 34, were arrested in December 2023 for their involvement in the illegal import of puppies from Malaysia.

They were discovered when Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers found five smuggled Pomeranian puppies when inspecting the vehicle of one Bryan Peh, 23, at Woodlands Checkpoint.

Peh was a friend of Ng and Lim.

The puppies were placed in a plastic storage container, with two of them inside a pet carrier in the container.

Investigations by the National Parks Board (NParks) revealed that the couple kept illegally imported puppies at their home for sale.

They profited around S$21,000 through selling 21 puppies on Instagram, holding viewings of the puppies at their void deck with potential buyers.

Ng and Lim pleaded guilty to five charges under the Animals and Birds Act.

They were each sentenced to 19 weeks and three days' imprisonment and a fine of S$5,000.

Of their sentence, three days' jail and the fine of S$5,000 came from the Section 48(1) charge. The amount fined was the maximum possible fine for the charge.

As Ng was first sentenced on Aug. 5, 2026 before her husband, she became the first ever person in Singapore to receive jail time for a Section 48(1) charge.

Peh was also discovered to have aided the two in smuggling puppies, and was sentenced to 16 weeks' imprisonment.

Transnational syndicate smuggling animals

In a separate case, the 33-year-old man, Sundra Pandian, was found to have kept 13 illegally imported animals at his home.

It was discovered that the animals were smuggled from Thailand through Malaysia by a transnational syndicate, with Pandian serving as a runner by storing the smuggled animals at his home until buyers were found.

He was discovered after a tip-off from the public led the authorities to his accomplice, Chow Chee Hoe, 25.

Chow would collect the animals from Pandian and carry out the sale to prospective buyers.

In total, 14 animals were seized from Pandian, including his pet Rottweiler.

The smuggled animals comprised dogs of various breeds and two British Shorthair cats.

Pandian pleaded guilty to nine charges under the Animals and Birds Act, and was sentenced to 24 weeks imprisonment on 17 Aug. 2026.

Of the 24 weeks, two weeks stemmed from the Section 48(1) charge, which is the heaviest such sentence handed out to date.

Chow also pleaded guilty to one charge and was fined S$4000.

Mistreatment and poor conditions

In both cases, the animals were kept and treated poorly.

Ng, Lim and Peh transported the puppies in cramped and poorly ventilated conditions, causing them suffering.

All five puppies tested positive for Canine Parvovirus, a highly contagious disease that can cause severe illness and death in dogs.

Notably, the virus is preventable through vaccination.

In Pandian's residence, the animals were housed in cages and pet carriers stacked up to three levels high in the service yard.

They were kept in their cages for two to three weeks at a time, only being let out for short periods of time for exercise or cleaning the cage.

The animals were cramped in the cages and their movement was restricted.

One dog was found to have tested positive for Canine Parvovirus, while some of the other animals required veterinary treatment after showing signs of ill health.

NParks: Smuggled animals often kept in poor conditions

The jail terms meted to Ng and Lim reflected their active role in selling and earning from the smuggled animals, NParks noted.

Pandian, correspondingly, was punished accordingly for the planning and coordination that he contributed in facilitating the smuggling operation.

Smuggled animals are often kept in poor conditions, and sometimes even heavily sedated to minimise noise and movement to avoid their detection by the authorities.

Furthermore, they may carry infectious and contagious diseases, threatening Singapore's native wildlife, pets, and humans.

Buyers who abet the illicit import of their pets into Singapore may be prosecuted, the authority added.

Members of the public with information on suspected poaching, smuggling or illegal trade of pet animals and wildlife can contact NParks at www.avs.gov.sg/feedback or call their Animal Response Centre at 1800-476-1600.