5th July 2014 – KAvenyou spoke to Ben Yeo (杨志龙) before the screening of Twelve Nights (十二夜) at Marina Barrage. An actor, a TV host and the founder the Play Kitchen*, Ben Yeo is happily married with 2 sons. Read on to find out what happened to Ben’s first pet and his advice to all pet-owners-to-be.
*Play Kitchen
Jurong Point 1 Level 3 Kopitiam Food Court, Singapore 648886
Opening Hours: 11:00am – 11:00pm Daily
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Ben Yeo previously owned a Toy Poodle which has passed away due to a brain disease when it was 2 year old. It was an extremely saddening experience for Ben as he told us about his pet. Since his Toy Poodle was not only young but also small sized, Ben‘s Toy Poodle did not go through the operations with the high risks involved. Ben explains that he had an extremely close relationship with his Toy Poodle and his sons were not born back then. Although his family owned other pets previously, Ben felt different as his Toy Poodle was his first pet owned, together with his wife.
When asked if he has any plans to adopt a pet in near future, Ben politely answered no because he has not really gotten over what happened previously. Ben has quite a number of friends who have adopted pets.
To Ben, the “Adopt, Don’t Abandon” cause is a meaningful campaign to not only enourage but also to educate people to adopt pets instead of buying. As quoted from Ben, adoption exists because of the people who abandoned and gave up on their pets and the kind-hearted people would then adopt those who are abandoned.
Ben also shared his experience at a pet farm when he unknowingly walked to the back alley. To his astonishment, he witnessed how the dogs were locked up in cages, all dirty and not taken care of. He then asked his friend and they told him that the dogs were bred this way. They are bred to breed. Ben was told that if there is a higher demand, the breeders will breed more. He wondered where the dogs will go to after they are done breeding. With this, Ben hopes for more people to choose adoption in order to reduce the demand for breeding for more dogs and increasing the numbers of non-professional breeders.
Why do people abandon? Ben felt that it can be due to the pet owners not knowing how to handle the pets or because the pets fell sick. The reasons to take the first step of owning a pet might be due to a moment of impulse, thinking that it would be fun to own a pet since everybody also owned one and then lose interest gradually as time passes by.
Ben‘s message to all pet-owners-to-be: “Spend more time with your pets and be more patient with them. Pets requires a lot of attending and love. Treat them like family members, treat them with equality.”
KAvenyou would like to thank TOGGLE TAP AMU for this opportunity to be involved in this event with such a meaningful cause!
Follow Ben Yeo on his Facebook here and his instagram @BenYeo23.
Click here to view more photos from Twelve Night (十二夜) screening
Photography and Article by Xuan Lin @ KAvenyou.com
