An Indian origin Malaysian man, who concealed a puppy in a laundry bag while smuggling it into Singapore from Malaysia, was sentenced to eight weeks' jail and fined SGD2,500 on Tuesday. Mahentharan Ganesan, 43, pleaded guilty to three charges ' one count of importing an animal without a licence and two counts of breaching his duty of care as an animal owner, with another charge taken into consideration for his sentencing, the Channel News Asia reported.

On October 20, 2023, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority officers at Tuas checkpoint at a bridge link to southern peninsular Malaysia detected one live puppy concealed in a laundry bag and hidden in the spare tyre compartment of Mahentharan's vehicle during an inspection.