Woman fined $2,500 for abandoning pet ducks at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve because they were 'bad luck'
She told the judge she had been reluctant to give them up and only did it at the behest of her friend.
SINGAPORE — A woman who decided to abandon her two pet ducks in a box at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in 2020 was handed a $2,500 fine. She had made the decision to do so because her friend told her raising them would bring her bad luck.
For her actions, Huang Su Hui (transliterated name) was handed two charges under the Animals and Birds Act, reported Shin Min Daily News. The 61-year-old is also not allowed to have pets for a year.
The court heard that Huang and her son lived together and, other than the two pet ducks, they also had nine birds of varying species in their home.
One day, after a friend said that the ducks would cause her doom, Huang felt that she had no choice but to stop raising the ducks as pets.
Shin Min reported that on 28 September 2020, she placed the two ducks in a box and covered it with a red cloth. She then transported the box with a friend in a truck to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, and left it there.
The abandoned ducks were discovered at 12.38pm on the same day by two National Parks Board (NParks) staff members, who then informed the Animal and Veterinary Service.
Huang did not have legal representation in court and pleaded with the judge to not penalise her too heavily as she was unemployed and would have to rely on her sister to help pay any fine.
She added that she was reluctant to abandon the ducks and was “forced” to do so by her friend.
When asked by the judge about how her friend forced her, Huang only said that the friend had repeatedly told her to stop raising the ducks.
Huang could have been fined up to $10,000 and jailed for up to 12 months.
Earlier this year the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals reported that it attended to abandonment cases involving 285 animals in 2023, a nearly three times increase compared to the previous year. Cats were the most abandoned, making up 45 per cent of total cases.
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