Letter from Satveer Kaur, Today Online 18 Mar 08;
I write in response to "Abandoning a pet is an offence" (March 11) from the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).
While I applaud AVA's initiatives such as campaigns promoting responsible pet ownership and the new dog licensing rules, I am disappointed with its reponse that "it would not be appropriate to ban import of dogs" citing that "Singapore operates on a free-market system".
Does this not reduce dogs to being merely property? They are living, sentient beings and should not be treated as goods subject to market forces.
In Singapore, we are not slaves to the market. Cigarettes are highly taxed and the number of cars sold is regulated. All this is done to protect the interests of the people. The same should be done in the interests of animals.
AVA's statement reduces animals to the same category as say, furniture and clothes.
