KILLED: Mr Seet found his dog Bobo lying motionless and bloody. PICTURE COURTESY OF MR DOMINIC SEET
The Electric New Paper :
'Why didn't driver stop to help my dog?'
Owners of dog killed by lorry upset, but driver says he thought it was a stray
THEY had let their dog out of their flat to play at the grass patch behind their block.
11 August 2009
THEY had let their dog out of their flat to play at the grass patch behind their block.
But when the cocker spaniel ran into the carpark near Block 264, Tampines Street 21, it was run over by an Ikea lorry.
The dog's owners, brothers Dominic and John Seet, have accused the lorry driver of not stopping to help.
But the driver - from Poh Tiong Choon Logistics, which handles deliveries for Ikea - claimed he did not know he had to stop to help.
Under the Road Traffic Act, anyone involved in an accident where a person or an animal is injured must stop the vehicle to help the victim.
Those who fail to do so can be fined up to $3,000 or jailed up to a year. Repeat offenders can be fined up to $5,000 or jailed for up to two years.
The accident happened last Tuesday night.
Mr Dominic Seet, 24, said his dog, Bobo, was let out of the flat at 8.45pm.
'For the past eight years, our dog has been let out of the house every morning and evening for some exercise,' he added.
'After roaming around downstairs, he will always return home on his own.'
The operations executive with pet farm Pet Movers said the grass patch where Bobo played at could be seen from his flat's kitchen window.
The lorry driver, Mr Rosly Othman, 41, said he was driving out of the carpark at about 9pm and did not see any dog.
It was only when he felt his right tyre go over a bump that he realised something was amiss.
'It was dark, but my headlights were on,' he said. 'I was also not driving fast as I was only in second gear.
'When I felt a bump underneath the lorry, I stopped and told my assistant to get off to check.'
Mr Rosly's assistant saw a dog lying motionless on the ground.
Mr Rosly said: 'I did not get off. Nor did I see the dog's body. But I did hear a small whimper.
'I thought the dog was already lying there before I drove past. As I did not see any owner around, I thought it was a stray dog.'
Mr Rosly said he and his assistant, as Muslims, are prohibited from getting near to or touching dogs, which are perceived as unclean.
He claimed they waited for about five minutes before driving off when they could not find the dog's owners.
Later, Mr Seet's neighbours, who were at a nearby coffee shop, informed his mother of the accident. She then called him.
He rushed to the scene and found Bobo in a bloody state.
'Blood was coming out from his mouth and snout,' Mr Seet recalled.
In shock
'He still had a very weak pulse and a slight vibration in his chest, but it disappeared after less than a minute. His eyes were wide open, like he was in shock.'
Mr Seet, who got Bobo from a friend when he was in Secondary 2, said the dog died soon after at the scene.
The next day, he called Ikea looking for answers. He said Ikea directed him to Poh Tiong Choon.
Mr Seet claimed that when he spoke to Mr Rosly, the latter did not sound apologetic.
'If he had stayed and helped my dog, or asked someone in the area for help, or apologised, it would have made me feel a lot better.'
Mr Rosly said he made a police report the next day. A police spokesman confirmed the report.
Under the Road Traffic Act, the driver of a vehicle that is involved in a road accident where damage or injury is caused to any person, vehicle, structure or animal, has to report the accident to the police within 24 hours.
Anyone who fails to do this will be committing an offence.
The New Paper reported a hit-and-run accident involving an animal in June last year.
In the report, the SPCA said that when a pet is injured in a road accident, someone should alert the SPCA and try to move the animal to the side of the road.
But those with little experience in handling animals should not try to pick them up. They should wait for SPCA officers to arrive while alerting motorists to slow down and drive cautiously.
Benita Aw Yeong, newsroom intern
