ACRES appeals for help after dead civet found with blow dart in body

The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) is appealing for help after it was notified of a dead civet found with a blow dart in its body.

The carcass was found by Martin Yeoh on Thursday (May 20), at the driveway of his residence in Kembagan at around 9.30am. Photos he posted onto Facebook showed a dart lodged in the civet’s body.

In its own Facebook post, ACRES pleaded for information on anyone using a blow dart. The organisation shared that it is not the first time that a dead animal has been found with blow darts in their body.

“Since February 2020 until March 2021, we have received several cases of pigeons found with blow darts to their body and eyes in Jurong West, Tampines Bus Interchange and Tampines Street 21.With no further leads to these investigations, we had appealed to all of you for information on anyone using these blow darts,” ACRES wrote.

“Today, the blow dart found on the civet has a thicker steel shaft which can cause serious injuries to not only animals, but also humans. Needless to say, human abuse often begins with abuse of the voiceless animals.”

According to Channel NewsAsia, ACRES have filed a case with the National Parks Board (NParks) and the carcass has been sent to the NParks’ lab for a post mortem, its co-chief executive officer Anbarasi Boopal said.

“From our experience in investigating the pigeons with blow darts since February 2020, there can be absolutely no leads to pursue a case like this,” she said, adding that tracking down the people involved can be hard as blow arts are available for sale readily online.

ACRES had previously appealed to the police to ban the sale of blow darts and blow pipes in Singapore.

“We sincerely hope that the Singapore Police Force will look into this matter urgently and ban the sale of blow darts in Singapore,” it wrote in its Facebook post.