The father of a full-time National Serviceman (NSF), who was
punished for filming an unauthorised video of an abandoned dog tied
up in Pasir Ris camp, has lashed out at the Ministry of Defence’s
(MINDEF) handling of the case, accusing it of not honouring its
word to a member of an animal welfare group.
Simon Spencer also wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday that his
son and eight other NSFs were threatened into keeping mum about the
alleged abuse of a stray dog by a senior officer.
Responding on its Facebook page, the Army dismissed the
allegations against these commanders as “untrue and unfounded” and
reiterated that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) does not condone
any acts of cruelty to animals. In an earlier post at midnight on
Tuesday, it said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of
Singapore agreed with its investigation findings that no dog abuse
had been committed.
The Army also posted a picture of a woman’s leg showing teeth
marks (pictured, left), saying it was of a staff who had been
bitten twice by “aggressive” stray dogs that are a “persistent
danger to personnel”. In December last year, there were at least
five recorded incidents of attacks by these dogs, with four causing
injuries to its personnel, it added.
In his post, Spencer said Animal Lovers League President Cathy
Strong was asked by MINDEF to disclose who handed her the 21-second
video of the black dog with a taut white rope tied around its neck
that prevented it from moving or lying down.
She was assured that it was purely for investigation into the
animal abuse and that no charges would be pressed against personnel
involved in filming it, he claimed.
“It was clear that MINDEF did not keep to their word to Cathy
when two officers informed me that my son will be charged,” said
Spencer.
The Army did not address Spencer’s claims about the ministry’s
assurance to Strong. It reiterated that unauthorised videography
within camps and disclosure of information to persons outside the
SAF violated camp security regulations and were “serious
offences”.