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Singapore. It happened in a split second.

One owner had unleashed her silky terrier while waiting to take part in a ball-throwing event for dogs, while another had unmuzzled his Rottweiler so it could drink water.

Then the 40kg Rottweiler snapped at the 4.3kg silky terrier, killing it almost instantly. The events leading up to the fatal incident took place so quickly that no one saw clearly what happened.

The incident happened on Sunday at the annual national dog walk at East Coast Park.

Yesterday, owners of the two dogs blamed each other for the death of three-year-old female silky terrier Honey.

Joreen Yeo, 29, who is self-employed, said she had unleashed Honey only because they were about to take part in the ball-throwing event at about 1pm.

Not too far away, plastic surgeon J.J. Chua had unmuzzled his four-year-old male Rottweiler, Popeye, so that it could drink some water as it was a scorchingly hot day.

Chua's version of events is that he was sitting down on a stool holding on to Popeye, who was leashed, when Honey came running at him and bit his inner right arm.

"Popeye saw the small dog attacking me and so, as is his natural instinct, bit the dog," said Dr Chua, 45.

Yeo, however, is sure her dog would not have bitten anyone. She also wants to know why the Rottweiler was unmuzzled in a crowded place.

She realized something was amiss only when she heard someone screaming.

"When I turned around, Honey was in the Rottweiler's mouth," she said, adding that the terrier was bitten near the chest.

She carried the bleeding dog to the veterinarian on duty, only to be told that Honey had died.

Chua rushed Yeo and the terrier to Mount Pleasant Animal Clinic in East Coast Road, in the hope of reviving it, but it was no use.

A friend of his took Popeye home.

The dog walk, which was attended by hundreds of people including Foreign and Law Minister K. Shanmugam, who was the guest of honor, went on as planned.

When contacted, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said it is investigating the case.

Under the law, all dogs must be leashed when in public areas. Thirteen breeds, including the Rottweiler, have to be muzzled.

From next month, new owners of five breeds and their crosses, including the Rottweiler, will also have to take these canines for obedience training by accredited trainers. These dogs are known to be large and have a powerful bite.

The dog walk is organized by the Singapore Kennel Club and features activities for dogs and their owners, ending with a walk.

Club president Jina Williams said 503 dogs were registered for the event, and more who did not register turned up.

She said the club is looking into what happened, but added that if all owners had followed the rules such as leashing and muzzling their dogs, such a tragedy could have been avoided.

Derrick Tan, 30, a dog lover who works in the marine repair industry, said many owners had unleashed their dogs that day, even though the organizers had reminded them not to do so.

Ricky Yeo, president of animal welfare group Action for Singapore Dogs, said dogs tend to be tense in places where there are many other dogs and people, and should always be leashed.

"At such events, I always see so many incidents waiting to happen because owners choose to be ignorant or to not care, letting their dogs run all over the place," he said.

Honey was cremated yesterday and Yeo said she is still coming to terms with her beloved dog's death.

She said she is likely to ask Chua for compensation, even though a friend of his had paid close to $1,000 for the dog's medical bills and cremation.

Chua said he has gone to Parkway East Hospital to have the dog bite treated. He added that his dog is obedience trained and was muzzled except for when it was drinking.

"It's an accident that can happen to anyone, anywhere. I wish I hadn't brought Popeye out that day," he said.

"I feel so bad for Honey and Joreen."


Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia. To subscribe to Straits Times Indonesia and/or the Jakarta Globe call 021 2553 5055.