Singapore man finds pet dog in trash can, minutes after paying company to cremate her

A Singapore man found his dead dachshund in a rubbish bin beneath his apartment block minutes after paying a pet cremation company S$180 ($139) to collect her. Liu Jianping, 46, told Shin Min Daily News that Kimi, the dachshund he and his wife had kept since 2010, died at home in the early hours of July 19 at the age of 16.Liu said he searched online for a service that would cremate her and scatter the ashes at sea. A male employee arrived before dawn, put Kimi's body into a bag and left after issuing an invoice, which Liu paid by bank transfer, Stomp reported. The invoice said the cremation would take place in Ubi, an industrial estate in eastern Singapore.A few minutes later, Liu went downstairs to throw out some items and saw the same employee waiting for a taxi with nothing in his hands.In a large green refuse bin nearby, he found a black plastic bag that appeared to have been pushed to the bottom deliberately. "When I opened the bag, I was shocked to find Kimi. My hands were shaking," he told Shin Min.His wife wept when she saw the body.Liu carried the remains to a nearby police station and filed a report, and alerted the National Parks Board, whose Animal and Veterinary Service regulates pet businesses.A person in charge at the company told Shin Min it would look into the matter. Liu said his request for a refund went unanswered.Mothership identified the firm as Express Pet Cremation. Neither the police nor NParks had commented publicly as of July 29.Liu paid a second company S$198 ($153) to cremate Kimi.Liu said he was less interested in a refund than in warning other owners to be careful about who they trust with a dead pet.Animal and Veterinary Service guidance, last updated in January, says Singapore's waste-to-energy plants are not designed to incinerate large carcasses such as dogs and cats, and directs owners of large pets to commercial crematoriums. Smaller animals such as hamsters, fish and birds may be double-bagged and placed in general waste.Burying an animal carcass in a public place is prohibited under the Environmental Public Health (Public Cleansing) Regulations, though pets may be buried on private land.