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Jiang Chuqin

Cheung Siu-ling struggles to fight back tears whenever she looks at the 600 goats she has kept for years at a farm near Hong Kong’s border. By the end of next month, the herd will either have to be relocated or put down.
The owner, who is in her fifties, has kept goats for more than two decades, and will have to move them out of their current home, a two-storey shed in Hung Shui Kiu, to make way for the Northern Metropolis megaproject.
“I’ve tried so hard to find a new place that fits them, but nothing has worked out yet,” Cheung, who works in construction, said.
“In the past, even if I had to relocate, there were still many options for livestock and big animals. But with more land being resumed by the government for urban development, it has been very difficult this time.”
After the Post published a photograph of the goats on Wednesday last week, a landlord approached the newspaper to offer Cheung a site or an alternative for keeping the herd.
Cheung is among those affected by the recall of sites to make way for the Northern Metropolis, a vast 30,000-hectare (74,132-acre) megaproject envisioned as the city’s next economic powerhouse and housing hub in the coming decades.


The Lands Department said the goat farm was located within phase two of the Hung Shui Kiu and Ha Tsuen New Development Area, a project for which the Legislative Council approved funding in May 2024.
It noted that affected residents had been contacted as early as 2022 and briefed on potential relocation deadlines, compensation and eligibility requirements. Following the funding approval, the farm’s relocation deadline was set for no earlier than June 2025.
After setting Cheung an initial deadline of July this year, the department said it had maintained its “people-centred” approach, postponing the move as much as possible without delaying the overall project, while keeping close communication with the farm operators.
“Although the owner claims the farm is not a commercial operation, the government has provided support to assist with the relocation,” the department said.
“Even for business operators, the government has never guaranteed ‘one-for-one’ or ‘seamless’ relocation arrangements, but will do its best to assist.”

It stressed that the three-year notice period given from 2022 should be sufficient for the owner to take responsible and appropriate measures for the herd.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said it was coordinating with animal welfare organisations to explore follow-up arrangements, but warned that goats were notoriously difficult to rehome.
“Depending on the numbers involved, any animals that cannot be adopted or placed may ultimately be euthanised,” it said.
Cheung said she started raising goats out of her personal interest and had never slaughtered or sold any of the goats she kept.
“During a road trip in the New Territories around 2003 or 2004, I fed some goats some grass, and they followed me. They were so cute,” Cheung recalled.
“I guess we were fated to connect, so I asked the owner for permission and brought two of them home.”
At the time, she lived in Hok Tsui Village on the southeastern tip of Hong Kong Island, and would walk the goats as one might walk a dog.
She said that seeing the goats after work each day made her feel carefree, similar to the bond other pet owners shared with their cats and dogs.
After being reported by villagers for lacking a licence to keep goats on Hong Kong Island, she relocated to Tuen Mun and Yuen Long, where a permit was not required, eventually settling at her current home at the end of 2019.

Over the years, through natural breeding and by adopting animals from owners who had given them up, the herd grew from just two goats to about 600. Many of them are kids and pregnant nanny goats.
She often wakes as early as 5am to collect fresh soybean dregs from a factory for the goats, before cleaning the shed and checking the animals’ waste for any signs of illness.
She also recruits some nearby villagers as volunteers to help with herding and collecting manure to fertilise vegetables; in exchange, she shares the harvest with them as a gesture of thanks.
Every afternoon, the goats would rush onto the road, whipping up thick clouds of dust and sand into the air, Cheung said.
From the top of the three hills where she herds her goats, several construction sites loom on the horizon with large bulldozers and cranes.
Several years ago, she began granting access to researchers in local universities in the orthopaedic and veterinary fields who were interested in how injured goats recovered and how they lived within a herd.
City University’s Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences was among the organisations. The school sent students to the farm multiple times throughout their studies, including a one-week placement on a goat farm.

The college said the purpose was to let veterinary students engage in practical activities and learn essential skills such as animal handling, vaccination and hoof trimming.
“We want to emphasise that we do not support the euthanasia of healthy animals,” the college said when asked about the goats’ possible fate.
“While we partner with numerous farms in Hong Kong, we hope that the goats can be relocated to environments that prioritise their welfare and well-being.”
Cheung has explored options through personal contacts, including in Lau Fau Shan and Ho Sheung Heung.
But she said the Lands Department stated that the proposed sites were located too close to nature reserves or residential areas and that the herd might disturb local wildlife and residents.
She also asked the department whether the government could offer a site, even one under a bridge or on a hillside, to avoid affecting other people.
But the authorities refused and only suggested that she look for private land.
As the January deadline approaches, Cheung said she was feeling desperate and feared the entire herd could be euthanised if no relocation site was found.


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Cheung Siu-ling says she has until end of January next year to make way for Northern Metropolis, or her herd will be put down


Cheung Siu-ling says she has until end of January next year to make way for Northern Metropolis, or her herd will be put down.


Northern Metropolis

Animal welfare in Hong Kong

Fate of 600 goats in the balance as deadline nears to move for Hong Kong project

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Cheung Siu-ling says she has until end of January next year to make way for Northern Metropolis, or her herd will be put down

Cheung Siu-ling says she has until end of January next year to make way for Northern Metropolis, or her herd will be put down