Straits Times 7 Dec 09;
Pet store owners have been told to attend courses to brush up standards. Kimberly Spykerman and Lester Kok check out the worst of the shops.
ONE tank with brightly coloured fish had a dead frog floating in it. Another tank had water so murky that the fish could barely be seen. Empty tanks were stained with algae, and muddy water was puddled everywhere on the floor.
DPS Fashion Enterprise, an aquarium in Serangoon Central, had its D grading tacked carelessly on the store's wall - the lowest ranking given by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) to pet stores in Singapore. This year, it has handed out four Ds.
The stores were guilty of selling sick or underage animals, overcrowding and/or maintaining poor conditions.
The grading system, introduced in 2007, is meant to raise retail standards, and to ensure that the animals housed in pet stores are properly cared for. No store was graded D in the first year. One D surfaced last year.
The good news is that more stores have received A and B grades - shops that made it into these categories formed about 85 per cent of the 256 pet stores rated this year.
Last week, all pet shop owners in Singapore were told they had to go back to school to take a course on pet management, a move that industry veterans have said is unnecessary.
Still, the AVA wants to avoid having to hand out any more D grades.
At Teck Whye Aquarium in Choa Chu Kang, 46 cages were lined 12m across and piled 2m high at the front of the store.
About 20 to 30 birds were crammed into every cage, each of which was about 1m in length. AVA regulations state that in a cage of that size, any more than 10 small birds is considered overcrowding.
Keeping too many animals in a cage increases the risk of disease, said veterinarian Cathy Chan.
Cramped quarters also help spread parasites and gastro-intestinal diseases through the faeces of the animals.
'All these diseases can be prevented by good animal husbandry,' Dr Chan said.
Long Hu Pets Enterprise had rows of fish tanks squeezed into narrow aisles, wet floors and equipment strewn all over.
During two visits made by The Straits Times, barely any customers went into the shop. The few who did left empty- handed, but seemed unfazed by the store's D rating.
Said one customer who declined to be named: 'It doesn't make a difference to me...It looks like any typical aquarium.'
According to the husband-and-wife team who have run the aquarium for the past 12 years, business has dropped to less than half of what it used to be a year ago.
They now rely on their small base of regulars, who drop by once or twice a month. They do two or three sales a day.
Pet Stop in Upper Serangoon had three certified staff members carrying out pet grooming, and handling sales of pet products and dogs.
The shop went from a B grade a year ago to a D grade this year because the place had a strong dog smell and because it had housed two clients' dogs overnight, which pet shops are not allowed to do.
Mr Eric Cheong, who set up the shop 10 years ago, said he was just doing the customers a favour.
'They have been our customers for years, and they trust us to handle their dogs,' the 30-year-old said.
DPS Fashion Enterprise and Teck Whye Aquarium displayed their D certificates, but Long Hu did not. As for Pet Stop, it was still displaying its old B grade.
An AVA spokesman said stores risk being fined if they fail to display their grades, though no one has been fined yet.
Stores rated D have to send their staff for remedial training by AVA, and they risk being shut down if they consistently receive the same grade.
This year, there were 80 complaints made against the 277 pet stores operating in Singapore; about 30 were fined. The complaints were mostly about the sale of unhealthy or underage animals, overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.
Stores that do not comply with the rules can be taken to court. The most recent case was in 2006.
Mr Cheong at Pet Stop said he no longer takes in customers' dogs. Instead, he refers them to pet hotels.
'Last month, I engaged a cleaner, so the odour has also been reduced,' he said.
In contrast, the boss of Long Hu Pets Enterprise, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, said he did not care what grade he got.
'If they want to give a D, then they give a D. It is up to them,' he said in Mandarin.
'AVA said I have to rearrange my shop and clean it up to improve.'
He said that business has been especially poor this year, as fewer people care to spend money on ornamental fish in bad times.
But he is not willing to improve the layout or come up with incentives to attract more customers.
'Even if I give discounts, if no one comes to buy, what is the point?'
D IS FOR 'DON'T CARE'
'If they want to give a D, then they give a D. It is up to them. The AVA said I have to rearrange my shop and to clean it up to improve.'
Long Hu Pets Enterprise's boss, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan
Report card for pet shop owners
# April 2007 (when grades were given only for shops selling dogs, cats and small mammals such as hamsters): 31 As, 68 Bs and 11 Cs.
# May 2008 (when grades were given for all kinds of pet shops): 42 As, 150 Bs and 54 Cs.
# December 2008: 45 As, 172 Bs, 53 Cs and 1 D.
# November 2009: 71 As, 148 Bs, 33 Cs and 4 Ds.
Want pet shop licence? Take course first
Straits Times 7 Dec 09;
ALL pet shop owners and their staff will have to go back to school.
If they want to keep their licences or get one to sell pets, they will need to sit through 16 hours of lectures, eight hours of practical workshops, and take a multiple-choice question (MCQ) test at the end of it.
Dog farm operators, who breed and import dogs and supply them to pet shops, will also have to take the pet care management course conducted by Temasek Polytechnic (TP), said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA).
The cost of the course has not been finalised, but the AVA said that the participants will be able to get a 90 per cent subsidy under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience, or Spur.
The course will cover the regulations of the industry, how to handle and care for animals, how to give health checks to animals and how to determine the sex of pets.
It will be split into three components - companion pets (dogs, cats and small mammals), fishes and birds.
The first workshop, to be held in March next year, will be for the pet retailers who deal with companion pets. In all, there are about 120 shops that do so.
Fish and bird retailers will be taught in later phases.
TP also offers a diploma in veterinary technology.
Dr Diana Chan, the course manager for the diploma and the pet care management course, said: 'There will be hands-on training where the lecturer will demonstrate how to handle the pets in a safe and responsible way.'
Dr Chan will conduct the course with three other veterinarians.
The MCQ test will be on what participants have learnt in the course. 'We don't want to make it so stressful,' she said.
Mr George Tan, 37, owner of Joy Doggy, said the course would be useful for new pet shop operators, but less so for seasoned retailers. 'The lecturers may not go in depth on how to protect our own dogs from getting sick,' said the pet shop operator of 13 years.
But the executive director of Pet Mart, Mr Benjamin Wee, feels that the course would update his knowledge of new developments in the industry. 'It is always good to improve,' the 34-year-old said.
LESTER KOK
