Study into Ban on Electric Collars for Animal Training

6 Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether the Ministry will provide an update on the study into a ban on electric collars for animal training; and (b) whether the Ministry will study the enforcement mechanisms for the Guidelines for Rehoming and Adoption of Dogs developed by the Rehoming and Adoption Workgroup.

The Senior Minister of State for National Development (Mr Tan Kiat How) (for the Minister for National Development): Sir, in 2022, the multi-stakeholder Rehoming and Adoption Workgroup (RAWG), comprising NParks, animal welfare groups, veterinarians and dog trainers, published guidelines to standardise practices in dog rehoming and adoption, as well as dog training and behaviour rehabilitation.

As part of the RAWG’s recommendations, the National Parks Board (NParks) further consulted key stakeholders of the animal community and members of the public on the use of electric collars in Singapore. To complement existing guidelines on dog training and behaviour rehabilitation, NParks is currently developing guidelines to highlight the risks of using aversive animal training devices such as electric collars and will share more details when ready.

Ultimately, these guidelines recommend good practices to be adopted by the community and are not meant to be legally enforceable. Notwithstanding this, in cases where unnecessary pain or suffering is found to be inflicted on animals, we will not hesitate to investigate and take enforcement action under the Animals and Birds Act.

Mr Speaker: Mr Ng.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): Thank you, Sir. I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. Could I just check what concerns the Ministry has in terms of coming up with a ban on the use of electric collars? I think Senior Minister of State Tan himself tried the use of the electrical collar and it is painful. Obviously, it is painful for the dogs as well and that is why it is being used to train them. So, how could it not be a physical abuse when it causes pain and suffering to the dogs which are being trained?

Mr Tan Kiat How: Sir, I did not know the Member was keeping track of me! [Laughter.] I did not post about it, but as part of the whole process, I did indeed get my NParks colleagues to bring in a range of electric collars and I tried all of them on myself.

On a range for one to 10 in terms of spectrum, I probably got to about seven and it has been very painful. The marks can show on the skin. It is not just the pain, but also the shock of it because the animal or whoever is wearing the electric collar would not know when the shock is applied.

So, I can empathise with what the Member is saying and I also shared the position the Government is taking on to look at some of these issues in my reply to his question. So, I must commend the Member for his doggedness.

On 4 November 2020 as well as 4 March 2022, I have made some elaborations on our considerations. But more importantly, in the coming months, we will release the guidelines and we will welcome a further conversation among different segments of our community – the dog owners, pet owners, trainers, animal welfare groups and other members of the public. So, we will continue with this conversation; and the guidelines will be out very soon.

But more importantly, the point the Member is making is about unnecessary pain and animal cruelty. On this point, I would like to share with the House that from 2019 to 2023, the Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) consistently received about 1,250 cases of alleged animal cruelty each year, including feedback from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

Every case undergoes thorough investigation. Between 2019 and 2022, an average of about 60 cases per year, or 5% of the total, were found to be related to animal cruelty. Enforcement actions were taken against offenders, ranging from warnings to prosecution, depending on the severity of the case.

For the remaining cases, our investigations showed that most arose from disputes – disamenities caused by pets or community animals, or involved the deaths of community animals which could be due to non-cruelty-related reasons such as accidental fall from heights, fights among community animals or road traffic accidents.

The community has a crucial role to play because each case is a case too many. Pet owners can refer to the Code of Animal Welfare for pet owners to learn about the minimal standards expected for animal housing, management and care.

We urge anyone with information and/or evidence on suspected animal cruelty cases to promptly share it with AVS via our website or calling our Animal Response Centre at our hotline. The timeliness of information is critical to enable us to establish the cause of death.

As I mentioned in my Committee of Supply speech, we are looking at the possibility of strengthening penalties for animal cruelty as part of our ongoing review of the Animals and Birds Act. AVS will continue to work closely with stakeholders such as animal welfare groups to raise public awareness on responsible interactions with animals.

Mr Speaker: As you all know, Senior Minister of State Tan loves animals. So, I am sure whatever he says, he will personally look into it. I am going to move on. Next question, Mr Yip Hon Weng.