‘Small, puny, but still a pet’
Loh Chee Kong Today Online 13 Mar 09;
SPEND $35 at a pet shop and you can take a hamster home for free. If you hold a PAssion Card — a membership card for grassroots leaders — you only need to spend $25.
This joint promotion between Pets’ Station and the People’s Association (PA) sparked a public outcry yesterday after a flyer was sent out by email to PAssion Card holders.
And in a truimph of civic action, the promotion — due to take place next week at Tiong Bahru Plaza where Pets’ Station has an outlet — was stopped even before it could begin. This was after the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) acted on the complaints.
Readers who wrote to Today were particularly disappointed that a Government agency had endorsed the promotion, includingMr William Fong who was “appalled” when he learnt of it through an online forum. He said: “Pets should never be meant as gifts or presents because having a pet is a lifetime responsibility and commitment.”
Another reader, Dr Tan Chek Wee said he was “deeply shocked and saddened”. Online forum posts described the promotion as“ridiculous”. Said one: “A hamster is very small and puny but it’s still a pet, and should be treated as one ... not like a free gift.”
SPCA executive officer Deirdre Moss told Today the society had received more than 20 email voicing strong objections to the promotion. Besides contacting the AVA, which was “already onto it”, SPCA wrote to the PA to “strongly object to such a practice” and stressed that “pets are living things which shouldn’t be exploited as free gifts for promotional purposes”, said Ms Moss.
Mr Madhavan Kannan, who heads AVA’s centre for animal welfare and control, said the authority had contacted Pets’ Station and “instructed them not to proceed with the promotion”. The pet shop complied.
Reiterating that the AVA bans the sale or gift of animals at exhibitions, Mr Madhavan said this is to prevent impulse buying and subsequent abandonment of pets.
When contacted, Pets’ Station declined to comment as its spokesperson was “unavailable”. On its part, the PA apologised for its “oversight”. A PA spokesperson told Today: “When alerted on the concerns raised on Thursday morning, we immediately withdrew thePAssion Card from this promotion, before it could take effect. (We) share the views that pets like hamsters should be cared for by people who are genuinely interested in them.”
Still, Ms Moss gave full marks to the civic action which “resulted in almost instant action by the authorities”. She said: “I was quite stunned and amazed that so many people are speaking up for animals. We are very encouraged that there was so much awareness over an issue like this.”
Shop under fire for hamster giveaway
Netizens up in arms after seeing e-flyer
Liew Hanqing, The New Paper 14 Mar 09;
IT WAS a marketing tactic that failed even before it started.
The offer: Spend $35 in a single receipt and get a free hamster.
The promotion, offered by Pets' Station in Tiong Bahru Plaza, backfired after incensed netizens lashed out against it.
The advertisement had begun circulating online this week. The pet shop had planned to offer a free hamster for every $35 spent in a single receipt, or $25 for PAssion card holders.
The PAssion Card is a membership card for People's Association grassroots leaders and members of the Community Clubs.
The shop's e-flyer, which was later posted on a popular online forum, has caused an uproar among netizens. Many expressed the view that the promotion was cruel and that it was not right to give away an animal as a freebie.
Promotion cancelled
After netizens bombarded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) with e-mails and phone calls, the pet shop was instructed to cancel the promotion, which was supposed to run from 16-22 Mar.
A spokesman for Pets' Station confirmed that the promotion, to be held at the atrium at Tiong Bahru Plaza, is off.
She told The New Paper: 'We have responded to all e-mails and will stop all promotional activities which involve live pets.
'We acknowledge negligence on our part, and would like to apologise to the public.'
A spokesman for AVA said it had received feedback from the public and had instructed the pet shop to cancel the promotion.
Said the spokesman: 'At animal exhibitions, AVA does not allow the sale or giving away of any animal. This is to prevent impulse buying of pets and animals being given to people who do not really need them or are unable to take care of them, resulting in the abandonment of pets.'
Discussion was lively on the forum thread related to the promotion.
One netizen wrote: 'After they adopt (an animal), they may abuse or just abandon them. It's ridiculous to give out pets.'
Numerous bloggers also posted entries criticising the pet shop.
One blogger, dead_cockroach, wrote: 'This is a very irresponsible marketing tactic. I foresee a number of these hamsters being neglected or abandoned at the void decks in due time when the novelty wears out.'
Another blogger, Dawn, wrote: 'This is terrible. When you buy accessories, you get a free hamster?'
SPCA executive officer Deirdre Moss said: 'It is marvellous that so many people are speaking up for animal welfare. These are people who received the promotion via e-mail and had acted on it immediately by voicing strong objections.'
Mr Louis Ng, executive director of About Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres), a charity aimed at fostering respect and compassion for animals, agreed that animals should not be given away as freebies.
He said: 'People need to think of the commitment that comes with owning a pet. The whole family must be willing to commit to taking care of the pet.'
