NEWS
ACRES IN THE NEWS
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TODAY
25-26 February 2006
Wild animals aren't pets
Several upset readers wrote in after reading about a 1.7m-long pet nurse shark and two black-tip reef sharks being kept in a tank beside the pool at Parc Palais condominium. Here are two of the letters.
Why no action, AVA?
Letter from Aarti Srivastava
I read the article, "OK to keep pet shark without a licence?" (Feb 23), with much horror and frustration.
Despite the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) pointing out to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) that keeping dogs require a licence, so why not sharks, the AVA bizarrely replied no licence was required to keep fish.
Surely it must have considered that at issue here was a carnivorous shark that could grow up to 4m in length.
As the article describes, the tank in which the sharks are housed is in fact too small for the creatures. Ironically, the AVA's website states that part of its mission is to "safeguard the health of animals".
While it was irresponsible of the Parc Palais management to keep these creatures in such dismal conditions, the AVA has the power to rectify this.
If the AVA cannot confiscate the animals on licensing grounds, the least it can do is relocate them to the Underwater World. This would send a message that exotic animals belong to the open seas and sanctuaries, not in a backyard.
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Illegal pet purchase?
Letter from Teo Li Lian
This issue is disturbing on three counts. One, the nonchalance with which Parc Palais obtained and kept the nurse shark without consideration for its well-being and growth over the past five years.
One shudders to think about the many other exotic animal displays in other parts of Singapore. A basement aquarium on Orchard Road springs to mind.
Two, who did Parc Palais buy the shark from? Does this type of animal transaction contravene any law? If the seller is a licensed pet-trade operator and such transactions are illegitimate, it raises concerns about the adequacy of the AVA's licensing system.
Three, the regulations seem ambiguous. The AVA's Mr Goh Shih Young was quoted as saying: "Normally, you do not need a licence to keep fish. But if you keep unusual fish that affects its welfare or is a danger to the public, we will investigate it."
Yet, the Wild Animal and Birds Act specifies that, apart from six species of birds, you cannot keep "any wild animal or bird" without a licence. Surely, the sharks at Parc Palais are wild animals?
Will the AVA clarify this point, please?
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