Even after Bubbles death, I was having dreams about her and found myself not ready to let go of this case, I was sure that there are many more victims like her and truly hoped no more puppies would suffer in the hands of this breeder. We decided to first share the breeder’s contact online, many started asking if we could show the breeder’s face but unfortunately, all deals were done at the void deck. All I could learn from the owner was that this breeder is a young chinese female in her 20-30s.
We started with nothing but this
My first attempt
I WhatsApp the breeder asking if she was still breeding toy poodles. Got blue ticked (read) but no reply whatsoever. When I tried calling the phone was turned off.
On the next day after sharing the above screenshot, I got a private message from a lady through our Facebook page, urging me to contact her mobile ASAP. After asking if it was linked to Bubbles, she started sharing her experience that she had also gotten a puppy from the same person. Based on her story, she got the breeder’s contact from the same website Locanto, this breeder had the exact same address and also dealt at the void deck, so we were rather sure it was the same person. Not surprised, the puppy she brought home turned out to be sick with constant diarrhoea throughout the night, after contacting the breeder, she actually told the owner that this was very “normal” and would get better with time. Owner then decided to meet up this breeder again, I’m not going to share how but she managed to trick the breeder into meeting and made her collect the sick puppy back for “recovering”. During this point of time the owner secretly followed the breeder to her place and noticed that she would always press level 10 and then climb two stories up. From this point onwards, this owner and I kept in contact, she’d send me screenshots of the breeder’s conversation with her, claiming that the puppy did not have diarrhoea and was fine at her place. Breeder even sent pictures of the intact poo, but without the puppy in it of course. This breeder introduced herself as Yvonne to this owner, but used another name Doris when speaking with Bubbles’s owner, if both of them were really the same person then something is fishy here.
These two were the one listed, with one requiring immediate care due to repeated diarrhoea
A bad start
After some discussion we decided to report the breeder to authorities. As this lady victim’s husband was a police, I consulted his advice before making my report. He mentioned that it would be safer to first report to AVA, then to the police to request for some assistance in case the breeder turn violent (many breeders like these belong to gang/syndicate and work together to mass breed and sell puppies illegally). I called AVA’s 24 hour hotline first, in which a lady picked up the call and took down my statement, I told her about the case with Bubbles, that she came from an illegal breeder and was diagnosed with Distemper. She actually asked me back about what I want her to do about this! I was kind of surprised but kept my cool, told her about the seriousness of the issue and that I would like them to assist and catch this breeder, she then asked for the address of the breeder and told me to report to the police next. The next call I made was to the police post at Sengkang, which is the closest branch to the breeder. An officer picked up the call and I explained my situation to him and what I needed, he replied with “Dog?! Ha ha ha”, and then directed me to go down to the station personally if I really needed to report about this joke. Right away I knew he wasn’t serious and wouldn’t care. Next, I tried another hotline to the police at the main headquarter, a different officer told me that they do not handle this matter and would not accompany any AVA officer, it should all be their job.
Finally onto something
I decided to wait for news and someone from by the name of Mr Teo actually called me the next day. I shared more about the case and told him that my plan was to catch the breeder on the act with an officer present. He told me that it was impossible because THEY “don’t do such things”, after some exchange of words here and there he ended up asking me to be an undercover, to meet the breeder myself and take a video of her myself. I was really shocked to hear this from them, I had at least expected some concern and show of interest in the illegal breeder but NO, they wanted me, a regular civilian to do the job for them first.
So I thought for awhile and decided to go ahead and do this, I really did not want to waste anymore time. After doing some research on Locanto I saw the same breeder listing 2 poodles on sale again, this time she was using a different number and name, she introduced herself as Michelle, LOL. I’d say that she was smart and kind of succeeded in me wondering if she was the same person i was looking for, however because of her laziness to take different photos, I found out that she was using the exact same dog photo after sharing my doubts with the other two victims! The breeder and I then exchanged a few messages on WhatsApp (she replied this time), we fixed on a meeting date and time. I tried asking if we could visit her place and she told me that her house was very messy, expected answer but I played along.
The ever popular photo that she kept using over and over again on Locanto
On the day of meeting, she told me that she was on the way back from work in the evening and I had to wait 5 minutes for her to bring the puppy down. It was very obvious where she was staying because I could hear lots of barks within that 5 minutes period while she went home. True enough, she came down from the 10th storey just like what the lady victim noticed. Judging from her clothings and also the working hours, it seemed like she works in a corporate environment in the day and sell puppies at night. With a normal face and seemingly friendly and kind gestures, this breeder did not look like anyone evil at all, she’d constantly kiss the puppy, stroke him and repeatedly say that she just want to find a good family for this unexpected pregnancy, but all motive became obvious after I asked her some key questions.
For those that wondered how this breeder look like, here's a video with captions:
and if you didn’t catch everything, here are the key points:
1. Breeder used 3 different names
2. She’s the same breeder that sold Bubbles
3. Sold at least 3 sick puppies within a period of 6 months
4. Lied that it was first time accidental pregnancy (birth date different from Bubbles)
5. Tail docked but “don’t know why it’s short”
6. Tried to sell me lethargic puppy as “Shy”
7. Yet to finish 2 jabs but said it was okay to bring home
8. Point Vet was the one she goes to for all her puppies, this vet could potentially provide more information to AVA
The last point - the vet she always use is actually one of the crucial evidence that could be used to track her down, mainly to have the vet disclose her history and the number of puppies she had brought to them for vaccination. I am wondering why the vet didn’t enforce finishing 3 jabs before being sold since she mentioned that the second and third jab HAS to be done at the same clinic. I also wondered if it was the same vet that microchipped her puppies. If so, were there any good reasons for vets to assist breeders like these?
After this conversation, I sent a photo of the breeder to the other 2 victims to ensure they were the same person. True enough it was the same breeder! Michelle, Doris, Yvonne was obviously the same person intending to do something illegal, hence hiding her real name. I quickly compiled the video and sent it to authorities, then called them to make sure that they had received it, the person picking up the hotline didn’t know what to do and asked me what I wanted, i simply asked her to refer my case to the upper management.
Not long after, a guy name Jason from the upper management emailed me and told me that he would handle my case, I actually felt a sense of relief. I called him right away and shared full details of my experience, as we spoke the conversation started to break down a little due to the fact that Jason didn’t know exactly what I was talking about, even after providing them the full details and video link before our conversation. He then explained that it was because his office didn’t allow watching of videos, I’m not sure what stone age computer they used but it doesn’t sound right for an investigation team to lack a simple video watching function. He assured me that he had watched the video when he returned home but after I started questioning about my encounter, it seemed that he did not understand what I’ve shared at all, had I just wasted all my effort and risks of putting myself in danger? After our conversation sharing the location of the video as well as Locanto link showing the breeder’s listings, he told me that he would contact the other 2 victims and probably be an undercover himself. Jason mentioned that he tried tracking down the 3 numbers provided and all linked to random people, which meant that the breeder was using SIM cards purchased from the black market. At the end of the conversation, he asked about the video I posted, if I intended to share it to the public. If I did then this could cause alarm to the breeder. I had to assure him that the video kept was private and meant to let authorities handle before I proceed to do anything else, in a way I had placed all my trust in them. After my call, he actually proceeded to contact the other 2 victims before tracking down the breeder.
Within a day, I received good news from one of the victim, Jason had messaged her that he caught the breeder and found a number of puppies at the place. With 2 of the dogs found being golden retriever puppies and the rest of them toy poodles, I was very sure that all the links on Locanto were from this same person. We thought everything proceeded very smoothly and Jason was as efficient as he could be. The only part that I was uncomfortable was not being notified by Jason, but I understand that maybe it was because I wasn’t the victim. An email would be nice however.
On the second day, I did not receive anything from Jason so I felt a bit uneasy and decided to email him about the status of the breeder, he then called me back and told me that the conversation with him and the victims were meant to be “confidential”, I’m not sure why but this was really weird. When I asked him about the breeder and what he had done, he told me that he simply went into her house and took down the microchip of the puppies.
“That is all? You mean the puppies are still with the breeder?”,
I exclaimed
Jason then explained to me that the breeder would be given 2 weeks to produce valid certification, and if she can’t then she’d be fined. At that point of time I couldn’t think anymore, my head was in a mess from all these nonsensical excuses and reasoning. Just a fine and that’s it? I then replied to him and asked him exactly why wasn’t her dogs confiscated right away since all the evidence of neglect plus breeding of dogs illegally had pointed to her. Jason told me that he couldn’t do anything because he didn’t find her breeding puppies at that point of time. I then asked him about the sick puppies she had sold and all the harm she had done to them, he brushed the question off saying that "it’s okay", he will handle the rest.
Below was our exchange of words:
Me: “what if there are more puppies that she is planning to sell?”
Jason: “there is nothing much I can do, she is probably part of a syndicate, her friends could be breeders too and keep changing address”
Me: “huh, I still have new posts of her currently selling the puppies you know? Why don’t you contact the number again and see if it’s the same person?”
Jason: “unfortunately we don’t have enough manpower to call every one of them, it will probably link to hundreds of other puppies”
Me: “then the more you should go and catch the mastermind behind!”
Jason: “we don’t have manpower to do them, this is also not like criminal offense where the law will act right away”
Me: “If this is not a crime, then what is a crime to you?”
Jason: “maybe like hitting a dog, then someone will go down right away”
Me: “wow, so does this mean that anyone can become an illegal breeder selling sick dogs and get away easily?”
Jason: “unfortunately yes in a way, anyway I will handle this”
Breeder continued posting new sale even after being caught
So we know that she is part of a syndicate but the law doesn’t wish to act on this, just because they don’t have enough manpower? If that is the case then what’s the point of creating the team? To catch innocent civilian who just wishes to own 2 dogs in flats, as well as prosecuting and demanding dogs to be given away just because they bark? I thought the team was created to provide justice to animals, I was wrong.
Anyway, I come to understand that the law for animals is still very weak, authorities are acting just to please and shut civilians up. They have no plans to expose the mastermind UNLESS the news is shared around and demands are made. What the hell is “not enough manpower”? Very bad excuse from the upper management, I even got feedback that this person was assigned to multiple cases and he is very firm when it comes to civilian, but laid back when serious offenses are reported. I’m not sure how true this is but in my experience it was kinda similar, they’d just act for awhile then close the case ASAP.
I hope this news will be shared around, most importantly people should know the face of the sick breeder and to keep away from this person.
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