Woman is first person in Singapore given jail for keeping animals in captivity for sale

Published Sep 15, 2026, 03:48 PM

Updated Sep 15, 2026, 03:48 PM

Ng Siew Teng has become the first person to be given a jail sentence for illegally keeping animals in captivity for sale at unlicensed premises.

On Aug 5, she was sentenced to 19 weeks and three days’ jail and a fine of $5,000 after she pleaded guilty to five charges under the Animals and Birds Act.

Her spouse, Callurn Lim Yuan Jin, who was linked to a Cambodia-based scam syndicate, was sentenced to one year, nine months, 21 weeks and three days’ jail and a fine of $12,000 on Sept 11.

SINGAPORE - The wife of a man linked to a Cambodia-based scam syndicate has become the first person here to be given a jail sentence for keeping animals in captivity for sale at unlicensed premises.

Ng Siew Teng, 28, and her spouse Callurn Lim Yuan Jin, 34, were involved in a scheme to illegally import puppies from Malaysia for sale in Singapore.

On Aug 5, Ng was sentenced to 19 weeks and three days’ jail and a fine of $5,000 after pleading guilty to five charges under the Animals and Birds Act.

Lim was sentenced to one year, nine months, 21 weeks and three days’ jail and a fine of $12,000 on Sept 11.

He must spend another four weeks and 10 days behind bars if he cannot pay the fine.

He had pleaded guilty to multiple charges for various offences including two linked to the syndicate, and five under the same Act.

The couple’s accomplice, Bryan Peh Jia Hao, 22, was sentenced to 16 weeks’ jail in January .

The National Parks Board (NParks) said in a statement on Sept 15 the married couple had abetted Peh to smuggle puppies from Malaysia to be sold in Singapore.

In earlier proceedings, the court heard that Lim had approached Peh in October 2023. Lim asked him if he was interested in smuggling the puppies for $250 to $300 per animal.

Peh agreed and carried out several illegal importations for the couple that month.

Lim and Ng then kept the puppies in their home and advertised them on Instagram.

Between October and December 2023, they sold 21 puppies and earned around $21,000 in profits.

Their offences came to light on Dec 27, 2023, when Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officers conducted a random inspection on Peh’s car at the Woodlands Checkpoint and uncovered five two-month-old Pomeranian puppies in the boot.

NParks found the puppies had been transported under cramped and poorly-ventilated conditions that subjected them to unnecessary suffering.

All five puppies later tested positive for canine parvovirus, a highly contagious disease that can cause severe illness and death in dogs.

NParks did not disclose details about the puppies’ current condition.

Separately, Lim was also a member of the Cambodia-based crime syndicate behind at least 528 scam cases involving over $52 million in losses between September 2024 and September 2025.

The group in Phnom Penh had conducted government official impersonation scams, targeting victims in Singapore.

Heaviest sentence given

In an unrelated case, Sundra Pandian, 33, who had kept 13 smuggled animals at his home , pleaded guilty to nine charges under the Animals and Birds Act, and was sentenced to 24 weeks’ jail on Aug 17.

NParks said in its statement this was the heaviest sentence meted out to date for keeping animals in captivity for sale at unlicensed premises.

Chow Chee Hoe, 25, who was linked to Sundra’s case, was fined $4,000 on Sept 1.

The authorities had earlier received a tip-off from a member of the public about the sale of illegally imported animals.

On Sept 26, 2025, officers from the Animal and Veterinary Service – a cluster under NParks – then arrested Chow for attempting to sell two smuggled dogs.

He had been using several premises as a pet shop to sell dogs on behalf of a transnational syndicate that smuggled animals from Thailand to Singapore.

He would collect these animals from Pandian before meeting prospective buyers.

Pandian acted as a runner for the syndicate, and kept the animals at home until buyers were found. The authorities seized 12 dogs of various breeds, including Pandian’s pet Rottweiler, and British Shorthair cats from him .

The animals were housed in cages and pet carriers stacked up to three levels high within a service yard for about two to three weeks at a time.

They were let out only for short periods for exercise or when the cages had to be cleaned.

Several of the animals were confined in conditions that restricted their movement, subjecting them to unnecessary suffering.

One dog tested positive for canine parvovirus, while some of the animals required veterinary treatment after showing signs of ill health.

NParks did not disclose details about these animals’ current condition.

Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.

National Parks Board

发布于 2026 年 9 月 15 日下午 3:48

更新于2026年9月15日下午3:48

吴秀腾成为首位因在无证场所非法圈养动物出售而被判入狱的人。

8 月 5 日，她承认违反《动物和鸟类法》的五项指控，被判处 19 周零 3 天监禁和 5000 美元罚款。

她的配偶林元金（Callurn Lim Yuan Jin）与柬埔寨的一个诈骗集团有关联，于 9 月 11 日被判处一年九个月二十一周零三天的监禁，并处罚金 12,000 美元。

新加坡——一名与柬埔寨诈骗集团有关联的男子的妻子，成为新加坡首位因在无证场所圈养动物出售而被判入狱的人。

28 岁的 Ng Siew Teng 和她 34 岁的丈夫 Callurn Lim Yuan Jin 参与了一项从马来西亚非法进口幼犬到新加坡出售的计划。

8月5日，吴某承认违反《动物和鸟类法》的五项指控，被判处19周零3天监禁和5000美元罚款。

9月11日，林某被判处一年九个月二十一周零三天监禁，并处罚金12000美元。

如果他无法缴纳罚款，则必须在狱中再服刑 4 周零 10 天。

他承认犯有多项罪行，包括两项与犯罪集团有关的罪行，以及五项违反同一法案的罪行。

这对夫妇的同伙，22岁的Bryan Peh Jia Hao，于1月份被判处16周监禁。

国家公园局（NParks）在9月15日的一份声明中表示，这对夫妇曾协助白薇秀从马来西亚走私幼犬到新加坡出售。

在之前的庭审中，法庭获悉，林某于 2023 年 10 月接触了白某。林某问他是否有兴趣以每只 250 至 300 美元的价格走私幼犬。

Peh同意了，并在当月为这对夫妇进行了多次非法进口。

林和吴随后将小狗带回家中，并在 Instagram 上发布广告出售。

2023 年 10 月至 12 月期间，他们售出了 21 只小狗，赚取了约 21,000 美元的利润。

他们的罪行于 2023 年 12 月 27 日曝光，当时移民与关卡局官员在兀兰关卡对 Peh 的汽车进行随机检查，并在后备箱中发现了五只两个月大的博美犬幼崽。

国家公园局发现，这些小狗在运输过程中被置于狭小且通风不良的环境中，导致它们遭受不必要的痛苦。

后来，这五只小狗的犬细小病毒检测结果均为阳性。犬细小病毒是一种传染性极强的疾病，可导致犬只患上重病甚至死亡。

国家公园局没有透露幼犬目前的状况详情。

此外，林某还是柬埔寨犯罪集团的成员，该集团在 2024 年 9 月至 2025 年 9 月期间至少犯下 528 起诈骗案，涉案金额超过 5200 万美元。

金边的这个团伙曾冒充政府官员进行诈骗，受害者主要来自新加坡。

判处的最重刑罚

在另一起案件中，33 岁的桑德拉·潘迪安在家中饲养了 13 只走私动物，他承认违反《动物和鸟类法》的九项指控，并于 8 月 17 日被判处 24 周监禁。

国家公园局在声明中表示，这是迄今为止对在无证场所圈养动物出售判处的最重刑罚。

与桑德拉案件有关的 25 岁男子周志豪于 9 月 1 日被罚款 4000 美元。

此前，有关部门接到公众举报，称有人贩卖非法进口动物。

2025年9月26日，隶属于国家公园局的动物和兽医服务部门的官员逮捕了周某，因为他试图出售两只走私犬。

他曾利用多处场所作为宠物店，代表一个跨国犯罪集团出售犬只，该集团将动物从泰国走私到新加坡。

他会在与潜在买家见面之前，先从潘迪安那里收集这些动物。

潘迪安为该犯罪团伙充当跑腿，负责将动物安置在家中，直到找到买家。当局从他那里查获了12只不同品种的狗，其中包括潘迪安的宠物罗威纳犬和英国短毛猫。

这些动物被安置在笼子和宠物笼中，这些笼子和宠物笼在服务场内堆叠了三层高，每次饲养时间约为两到三周。

它们只有在需要活动或清理笼子时才会被短时间放出来。

一些动物被限制在行动受限的环境中，使它们遭受不必要的痛苦。

一只狗的犬细小病毒检测呈阳性，而一些动物在出现健康问题后需要接受兽医治疗。

国家公园局没有透露这些动物目前的状况详情。

沙菲克·阿尔哈提卜是《海峡时报》的法庭记者，主要报道国家法院审理的刑事案件。

国家公园管理局