IF YOU witnessed a crime, wouldn't you want the perpetrator to be caught and punished?
Okay, so it was a dog that was murdered. But still, it was cold-blooded murder.
Two weeks ago, a Pomeranian was bashed to death at Block 267A Compassvale Link. The SPCA was called in to pick up its body and the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority picked up the investigation.
Two weeks ago.
Apparently there were witnesses but there still has not been anyone identified as the perp.
Aren't you outraged? I am.
The dog was collared and on a leash. It wasn't a stray. Therefore, it has an owner. So why hasn't the owner come forward - unless, obviously, he or she was the perp.
More naggingly, why haven't the neighbours come forward? Whether they witnessed the actual act itself, surely the Pomeranian's immediate neighbours would know which unit it lived in? (Pomeranians aren't exactly the world's quietest dogs.)
I'll freely admit that I'm not a very neighbourly person. Apart from entering and exiting my unit, I don't mingle with my neighbours - just a hello if I happen to pass them by in the street.
But I know where their dogs live.
How can you not? You see them being walked by their owners every now and then. If one of them ends up dead on the road, surely you would know which dog it was - especially when photos of it with a bashed and bloodied head appears in the national newspapers with your address attached.
So where are this dog's neighbours? Why haven't they come forward? Why does the SPCA have to offer a monetary award to loosen their tongues? The "reward", which started out at about $2,000 a week ago has been upped thrice to $3,400 now - and still it appears that the investigation has no leads.
What does this say about our society?
I had thought we were pretty civilised and valued life - all life, not just human life.
But I'm now awfully dismayed at what this incident appears to reflect, and I've been wondering whether it's just me being an animal-lover that has got me so riled up.
I was similarly outraged just about two months ago when a video posted on YouTube had shown a woman hitting her cowering little brown dog several times with a sapu lidi broomstick. The AVA investigated the matter and decided that the poodle-terrier Butters was just being disciplined and let the owners off with a warning. That incident took three days for the owners to be found. (Of course, it helped that the owner filmed the video and came forward himself.)
If convicted of animal cruelty, an offender can be fined up to $10,000 and/or be imprisoned for up to 12 months.
Perhaps the AVA should start hitting these offenders a little harder. Animal cruelty is not an issue that will be resolved by reward rather than punishment.
Meanwhile, the punishment for the witnesses and neighbours of the poor murdered Pom, who have remained cowardly quiet for the last fortnight, shall have to be guilt.
I hope the guilt hangs heavy.