A 43-year-old Singaporean man received an eight-week jail sentence and a S$2,500 fine on April 15, 2025, after admitting to smuggling a puppy from Malaysia and abandoning another dog while on bail.
Mahentharan Ganesan, who ran a transportation company in Malaysia, pleaded guilty to importing an animal without a license and two counts of breaching his duty of care as an animal owner. The court took another charge into consideration during sentencing.
Court documents showed Mahentharan had borrowed money from an unidentified Chinese male who was reportedly a client of his company. This person later offered Mahentharan work to repay his debt by illegally transporting animals from Malaysia to Singapore.
Though Mahentharan initially refused, knowing it was illegal, he later accepted due to financial problems. The lender connected him with someone called “Mr Dog,” who provided assignments and instructions.
Under this arrangement, Mahentharan collected animals from various parties for delivery to recipients in Singapore. The animals, typically one to three per trip, were often placed in laundry bags or boxes and appeared sedated. He received S$60 for each delivery in Singapore, regardless of the number of animals transported.
“Mr Dog” offered Mahentharan S$500 to bring a puppy from Malaysia to Singapore. Mahentharan agreed, reportedly because only one animal was involved.
On October 20, 2023, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority officers at Tuas Checkpoint discovered a Labrador Retriever puppy hidden in a laundry bag inside the spare tire compartment of Mahentharan’s vehicle during an inspection. When stopped, Mahentharan lied to officers, claiming he had nothing to declare and that the bag contained only laundry.
After the discovery, the puppy was sent to the National Parks Board’s Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) for care and examination. A veterinarian determined that the puppy had “experienced pain and suffering” as it was transported in cramped conditions that prevented it from standing, turning around, and lying down naturally.
The veterinarian also diagnosed the puppy with canine parvovirus, a condition that can cause rapid dehydration, sepsis, and possibly death.
While released on bail on November 6, 2024, Mahentharan accepted another delivery job from someone named “Michael,” whom he met through a Telegram group chat called “SG Pet Discussion.” Michael arranged for Mahentharan to pick up three puppies for grooming and boarding on December 11, 2024, paying him S$150 for the job.
Mahentharan delivered two puppies but failed to deliver the third—a brown Dachshund. Since his family was unaware of his animal delivery jobs, Mahentharan abandoned the puppy at the void deck of his HDB flat around 4:00 PM that same day.
A witness reported the abandonment, leading to the recovery of the puppy by AVS. The puppy had no microchip, and its origin remained unknown.
The Telegram messages between Mahentharan and Michael had been auto-deleted, complicating the investigation. The identities of “Mr Dog” and the Chinese male to whom Mahentharan owed money remain unknown, as Mahentharan claimed not to know their real names or where the animals came from.
It remains unclear how many similar assignments Mahentharan had completed within Singapore.
