My Take | Hong Kong’s pets need better protection and should not be left behind
A spate of poisonings has highlighted the broader need to update animal cruelty laws, more than five years since an overhaul was first proposed
Among the many protests in Hong Kong in 2019 was one that was different. Joining thousands of peaceful demonstrators were dogs and other pets. The call was for animal cruelty laws to be strengthened to provide better protection. Changes were promised, but have still not been made.
The protest, in May that year, coincided with a public consultation proposing an overhaul of the outdated Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance. It took place amid public outrage over a case the previous month in which a quarter of around 150 dogs and cats at a “shelter” in the New Territories were found dead, many believed to have starved.
The government was soon to have other priorities – months of civil unrest and the pandemic. But the much-needed revamp of the animal cruelty law is still pending. There is no timetable for its introduction.
Calls for change have been renewed amid a spate of disturbing dog poisonings. Last week, animal welfare groups met with officials and legislators to raise concerns. The poisonings are deeply distressing for owners whose beloved pets suddenly fall sick and often die after eating tainted food left in public places.
The Hong Kong Guardians, volunteers who monitor suspected poisonings, revealed there were at least 49 last year, with 42 cases in November and December. The group fears these are just the tip of the iceberg.
Concerns were also raised last month by the poisoning of three pet dogs belonging to former beauty queen Lisa-Marie Tse Ga-ye in Tai Po. Sadly, two of them, Peachy and Summer, died after eating meat laced with neurotoxins. The police are investigating.
Hong Kong has a long history of such crimes. The notorious “Bowen Road dog poisoner” believed to have preyed on pets in prosperous Mid-Levels for almost 30 years, has not been caught. Up to 200 dogs were targeted from 1989. One of them, famously, belonged to the last governor Chris Patten. The Norfolk terrier, Whisky, was poisoned in 1997, but survived.
