AVA bid to improve pet shop standards via compulsory pet care course
By Ansley Ng, TODAY | Posted: 30 November 2009 0836 hrs

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SINGAPORE: From next year, pet buyers can expect better service when they go to pet shops. And instead of just getting help to choose a pet, customers can turn to pet sellers for continued guidance on animal care and ownership.

This will be possible when a bid to raise standards in the industry takes effect in January.

Unlike now, all pet shop operators will be equipped henceforth with certifiable skill sets, through a compulsory pet care course taught by Temasek Polytechnic and supported by the Pet Enterprises and Traders Association and the Workforce Development Agency.

Shop owners and staff who have worked for more than six months will bone up on regulatory requirements, animal care and business ethics, among other topics, Parliamentary Secretary (National Development) Mohamad Maliki Osman announced on Sunday.

The Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) expects about 120 pet shops and farms selling small mammals such as dogs, cats, rabbits and hamsters - out of the 277 in total - to sign up in the first half of next year. All operators should eventually do so when they renew their annual licences.

"I believe the new compulsory training programme will be well received by the pet retail industry, as well as by discerning customers who patronise shops that maintain a high standard of animal care," said Dr Maliki at the finale of a series of Responsible Pet Ownership roadshows.

The roadshows, organised by the AVA, come as the number of dog attacks have risen this year. The attacks, numbering 65 so far, have involved not just bigger dogs such as rottweilers and dobermans, but also smaller ones such as shih tzus and Jack Russell terriers.

Last week, a businessman was charged in court after his two rottweilers bit two people in the Toh Tuck Road area.

When asked how the new course will increase pet owner responsibility, Dr Maliki said that improved pet shop standards means that pet buyers get better "after-sales service".

"We want pet shops to have responsibility to ensure that pet owners understand what their roles are as far as pet ownershp is concerned, and therefore, create that awareness and ensure that skills to manage pets when they are at home (are passed down)," he said.

In an ongoing public consultation exercise, there have also been calls for dog owners to buy insurance and for dogs to be categorised according to their breeds, said Dr Maliki.

Mr Owen Sim, a master trainer of dogs and who breeds Siberian huskies in his Telok Kurau shop, welcomed the course, as there were pet shop operators who are like the "blind leading the blind".

He recalled a customer telling him that another pet shop owner had advised him to reach into his puppy's mouth and pull its tongue if it was naughty and wanted to nibble him.

"I told him there was no logic behind it," said Mr Sim, who described some pet shop operators as "businessmen ... motivated by profits", not pet experts.

"Having the course would be a boost for the industry, but we need to know what will be taught and how the course will really benefit us."

The lessons, which can be done intensively or part time, include 16 hours of lectures and eight hours of workshops as part of TP's veterinary technology diploma, covering areas of laws, animal health, occupational health and client education.

There will be a fee subsidy of up to 90 percent under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience.

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Singapore) education executive Selina Sebastian said: "We're very heartened, and this is definitely a step in the right direction. Hopefully, the course will have a knock on effect on owners and owners-to-be."

She added that SPCA has received dogs dumped by owners who were frustrated because the pets were disobedient.

"In fact, the first thing you should do when you get a dog is to sign up for an obedience course," she said.

Dr Maliki also announced Sunday that as a result of risk management measures such as rabies vaccines, blood testing and microchip identification for animals, the AVA will waive quarantine requirements from January 1 for pets imported from countries with minimal rabies risk.

This means dogs and cats imported from places such as Japan, Hong Kong and Norway can enter Singapore without the need for quarantine.

Currently, pet dogs and cats imported from countries other than Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland are quarantined for 30 days.

- TODAY/yb