A local veterinary clinic has come under criticism after a series of Instagram Stories went viral.

The videos, uploaded by two assistants from the clinic, featured them interacting with animals in a way that have upset viewers.

WhatsApp and video receipts

A Mothership reader shared a series of WhatsApp messages that have been circulating among the pet-loving community about the staff members' behaviour:

The messages claim that the one of the staff, named Janice, had posted a video making light of a cat’s recent ear surgery.

The surgery had rendered the cat deaf, and the staff made noise near its ears as a joke.

You can see the screen recording of the Instagram Story, also courtesy of the Mothership reader, here:

[video width="400" height="848" mp4="https://static.mothership.sg/1/2019/11/IG-animal-abuse_1-1.mp4"][/video]

Another video shows the staff appearing to inject an animal’s removed testicles with some kind of liquid and playing with it.

They testicles were thrown onto the table and the floor while someone in the background says, “Bounce, bounce!” while laughing.

Another staff attempted to juggle the castrated parts.

[video width="400" height="848" mp4="https://static.mothership.sg/1/2019/11/IG-animal-abuse_2a.mp4"][/video]

The accounts that the Instagram Stories were posted to appear to be unavailable at time of writing.

Ohana VetCare responds

Ohana VetCare has since come out with two Facebook posts acknowledging the situation, one of which has been deleted.

The deleted post, which was shared by one of the founders of the clinic in the early hours of Wednesday, Nov. 13, was screen captured and shared by Instagram user @bigboycalbee.

The post was as follows:

Here's a summary of the post:

When the two founders of the clinic were first informed of the videos, they were “heartbroken."

"I imagined Ohana as a perfect little baby but now there is a large ugly mark on the baby which we can do nothing about."

While the owners initially thought of terminating the staff involved, they eventually decided against that for three reasons:

1) They felt that doing so would be taking the easy way out.

2) The staff’s actions were not out of cruelty.

3) It was not an issue of integrity.

Rather, the founders felt that the issue was about immaturity.

The post then went on to describe the two employees, named as Leandra and Janice, and their positive behaviour in the job.

For example, Leandra adopted a cat that had no home, and Janice “tries her best to improve something” whenever she is at work.

Still, the founders agreed that the videos were “inexcusable” and that they would be taking disciplinary action.

However, the post clarified, Leandra and Janice would not face termination because everyone does immature things "now and then."

The post closed with a half-apology (“We have always strived to be transparent and what you see when you are around is who we are behind closed doors. Wei and I are sorry that these videos cast so much doubts on this.”) and a Bible verse.

Ohana responds again

However, since this first post has been deleted, Ohana VetCare has shared another update:

The second post makes no mention of immaturity being the reason for the staff members’ behaviour, and states that the nurses have been suspended, although it is not clear whether the suspension is temporary or permanent.

Many Facebook users voiced out their disappointment with the clinic:

Others, however, have come to the clinic’s support.

While these commenters do not condone the behaviour of the staff, they trust the clinic’s management as a whole.

Top image via Mothership reader

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