The Animal Welfare Legislative Review Committee said on Friday that they are calling for tougher punishment for animal abuse and abandonment in Singapore, after a first ever one-year long review set up by the government according to the city-state's existing animal welfare laws.

Among the 24 recommendations in total, the committee has proposed that repeat or malicious offenders could be slapped with fines reaching 50,000 Singapore dollars (40,323 U.S. dollars) and/ or three-year jail terms, comparing with the current maximum penalty of fine up to 10,000 Singapore dollars or one year in jail, or both.

They would also be barred from keeping pets for up to one year, the committee added.

Some first-time animal abusers may see the original penalty, as well as perform community service.

Meanwhile, the committee also calls for higher penalties for businesses, with penalties up to 100,000 Singapore dollars, and a ban from operating for up to a year.

Besides some regulations on commercial pet breeding activities and pet boarding facilities, the proposals also advice that the government should set a minimum age of 16 years old for buying a pet, even including pet fish.

It is said that the committee has submitted its recommendations to the city-state's National Development Ministry for consideration.

It's very common to see some offenders sentenced to jail or fined because of their animal abuse here. At the end of last year, two cats had been cruelly dismembered in a community. The case had arisen intense condemns both on the internet and the local media. K Shanmugam, the city-state's Law and Foreign Affairs Minister, called the act "gruesome" and "sick." Endi

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