Social News
Written by: Chen Qianting
2019-11-27 14:17
Last updated: 2019-11-27 14:17An outbreak of African swine fever in mainland China began in August last year, and nearly all provinces were "occupied." However, a new audit report revealed that the AFCD has never tested the African swine fever virus for live wild boars or carcasses. Samples can be collected for inspection after inspection of suspected pigs, but pig carcasses are usually disposed of by the FEHD without the need for fishery and protection. The report points out that if wild boar is infected with African swine fever, it may spread the virus throughout Hong Kong.
The AFCD responded to the Audit Commission that it had obtained the consent of the FEHD to launch the African Swine Fever Surveillance Pilot Project from November this year to January next year. The wild boar carcasses found in the designated test sites will depend on various factors, Decide whether to perform routine testing for African swine fever, but only for pig carcasses found during office hours.
Boar nuisance cases have been recorded from time to time in various districts in Hong Kong. (Profile picture / Photo by Lu Jiayu)
Audit has reviewed the work of AFCD in dealing with wild and stray animals. Audit has quoted a response from AFCD saying that as of June this year, AFCD had not conducted any tests on African swine fever for any live or dead wild boar, and Boar carcasses found in public places are usually discarded by FEHD personnel without the need for AFCD staff. The FEHD is responsible for maintaining information on discarded wild boar carcasses, but does not provide relevant information to AFCD on a regular basis.
There is a mechanism for AFCD to handle suspected infected pigs
The audit report mentioned that wild pigs infected with African swine fever could spread the virus throughout Hong Kong. According to the current mechanism, AFCD will report to the wild pigs with unknown cause of death or disease and will inspect the wild boars to determine if the pigs have suspected symptoms of African swine fever. If there is any doubt, the pigs will be collected The samples were tested for African swine fever.
However, AFCD admits to Audit that as of June this year, no African swine fever has been tested on live wild boar or carcasses. The AFCD also stated that FEHD personnel could dispose of pig carcasses on their own, without the need for fishery and protection staff to be present, and that the fishermen did not receive data on pig carcasses kept by the FEHD.
New pilot program to monitor African swine fever but only wild carcasses found during office hours
The AFCD revealed to the Audit Commission in September and October this year that it had obtained information on the collected wild boar carcasses from the FEHD, and obtained the FEHD's consent to launch the African Swine Fever Monitoring Pilot Program. Local wild boar carcasses are monitored.
The plan includes wild boar carcasses found in designated test locations during office hours, depending on various factors, including the number of wild boar carcasses, the testing capabilities of the AFCD's veterinary laboratory, and whether the carcass conditions are suitable for testing. Routine testing for African swine fever; FEHD will conduct preliminary screening based on the status of wild boar carcasses found and notify AFCD of basic information such as the location and time of the carcass found. Depending on the circumstances, the FEHD will send suitable corpses to AFCD. The pilot program will run from November 2019 to January 2020. After review and revision, AFCD will launch a local wild boar surveillance for African swine fever.
Audit has urged the two departments to strengthen liaison to ensure that the plan is implemented on time.
[African swine fever] Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs: Pork supply will improve next year
[Africa Swine Fever] Swine Fever Explosion at Shenzhen Pig Transfer Station Chen Zhaoshi: Re-opening depends on inspection progress
[Africa Swine Fever] Pigs from Hong Kong have been suspended in Shenzhen since the death of the dead.
According to statistics from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department in January 2019, there are about 1,800 wild monkeys in Hong Kong. (Profile picture / Photo by Zhou Lixian)
Wild monkeys are becoming more and more difficult to catch monkey cages
Except wild boars, monkey nuisance complaints in Hong Kong accounted for about 29% of the total. AFCD hired contractors to catch and sterilize monkeys, but during the period 2014/15 to 2018/19, 360 monkeys causing nuisance were captured Among them, 29 were released in the wild without sterilization, which violated the guidelines of AFCD. The relevant records did not indicate the reason why they were not sterilized. The contractor also reported that monkeys are very familiar with monkey traps and are becoming more aware that monkey catching will become more difficult in the future. Audit considers that AFCD needs to explore the difficulties that monkey contraception and sterilization programmes have in locating and catching monkeys, and continue to pay attention to the need to improve monkey catching strategies.
Inadequate monitoring of adoption of stray cats and dogs
The AFCD currently has 16 adoption partner agencies that allow citizens to adopt cats and dogs. The AFCD will only visit these agencies when it is needed or approving their applications, but 7 agencies have become adoption partners It has been more than 10 years, and Audit has estimated that the authorities may not have visited some adoption partner institutions for a long time. In addition, 10 of the 16 institutions have accepted animals for adoption in 2018/19, but only 2 of them (20%) have submitted “adoption records” as required, which contain relevant information about these cats and dogs , Such as adoption status. Audit considers that AFCD needs to consider regular visits to adoption partner agencies and ensure that they submit adoption records as required.
[Animal Welfare Law] 6000 people march to promote legislation
The Animal Welfare Act envisages consultations with animal abusers or permanent bereaved eligibility, up to 10 years in prison
[Adopt animals. Three] Abandon pets at low cost Animal welfare legislation is just the beginning
Audit Report of African Swine Fever Audit Office