Our Heritage

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Back during a time in Singapore when veterinarians were non-existent, a five-year-old boy from a humble background loved animals so much that he knew deep in his heart he was going to be a vet one day. Of course, he had never even heard of the term, “veterinarian,” much less how to become one, but that didn’t stop him from chasing his dream.

Dr. Tan Hwa Luck qualified to study medicine, but amid family objections, chose instead to become a veterinary surgeon. As one of Singapore’s pioneer & pre-eminent vets, Dr Tan also founded the Mount Pleasant Veterinary Group.

At a time when no one in Singapore understood the concept, Dr. Tan saw the need for closure upon a pet’s passing. With more Singaporeans living in high-rise apartments, pet owners also didn’t have land to bury their pets. Neither could they simply throw them down the garbage chute. Dr Tan set out to provide a solution, which led to the birth of Singapore’s first and longest-running pet crematorium and columbarium – the Mandai Pets Sanctuary.

Mandai Pets Sanctuary was born from a precocious understanding of the profound connection between humans and their companion animals—the precocious understanding of that five-year-old boy. Dr. Tan’s philosophy as a practising vet was always to have the interest of the pet at heart, right up to the very end of a pet’s life. The Mandai Pets Sanctuary represents that befitting end that attests to Dr. Tan’s unfaltering philosophy.

A PICTURE OF CALM AND SERENITY FOR YOUR FRIEND

The location is a homage to Dr. Tan’s love of nature. Nestled amid the lush flora of Singapore’s Mandai region, Mandai Pets Sanctuary is a picture of calm and serenity. An iconic building stands on the site of the sanctuary. The building served as one of the country’s earliest police stations and post offices respectively in the 1800s, serving the local community. Even pregnant mothers would go there for help with maternity issues and register their newborns, making it a de-facto maternity clinic at times! With its facade preserved for posterity, it houses the columbarium section of the sanctuary today, melding heritage with the heavens.

As we reach new beginnings for this sanctuary, Pet Lovers Centre, South-East Asia’s largest pet care chain with a similarly rich heritage dating back to 1973, is poised to take the Mandai Pets Sanctuary to new heights, bringing a lifetime of care and value to your pet through its cradle-to-grave approach to service. Pet Lovers Centre strives to provide quality pet products and services to our customers. Our dedication to pet care has been recognised by industry and professional organisations, and was named the Overall Winner of the Singapore Prestige Brand Award in 2008.

Through this joint venture, we hope to bring the same dedication to pet care to Mandai Pets Sanctuary, while preserving its rich history and heritage. We understand how distressing it is for a pet parent to lose their loved one, and that’s why at Mandai Pets Sanctuary, we strive to make things as simple and painless as possible, holding the pet parent’s hands throughout the end-of-life process for their pets.