There have been frequent cases of animal cruelty in Hong Kong in recent years.
The Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Association for the Protection of Animals conducted research and reviewed 335 suspected animal cruelty cases in the database of the Association from 2013 to 2019, and found that more than 170 cases had not been prosecuted.
The team explained that the suspected case of active abuse was not prosecuted, mainly because the police could not find the prisoner or found evidence of physical injury during the inspection.
In addition, the study listed a case of animal hoarding in 2014. The defendant set up a "rescue shelter" and kept 95 dogs in village houses and enclosures, but they had not been fed for a long time.
At the time of discovery, 20 dogs were dead, and the bodies were eaten by other dogs.
However, the person in charge was only sentenced to 160 hours of social service order and fined.
The report urges the government to introduce the duty of care for animals, improve the existing anti-abuse laws, and add sentencing guidelines.
In the research and analysis of 335 suspected animal cruelty cases, active animal cruelty accounted for the most, reaching 118 cases, of which 55 were not prosecuted; the second largest category of cases was 102 cases including malnutrition and abandonment and other neglected care cases.
In addition, 59 suspected poisoning cases were involved, but only two cases were prosecuted.
Studies have found that dogs are only the main victims of all types of abuse.
The report states that most cases involve traumatic bodily injury or negligence caused by animal owners or family members.
In cases involving negligence, most dogs were abandoned in private premises without food or water. In many cases, the owners did not live with the animals, and nearly one-third of the animals had died when they were discovered.
The report also pointed out that in about 20% of cases, prisoners who abandoned animals avoided prosecution because the police could not find them in time within the six-month time limit for prosecution.
The Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Association for the Protection of Animals conducted research to examine 335 suspected animal cruelty cases in the Association's database from 2013 to 2019.
(Provided by HKU)
The report also listed two cases of concern. In addition to the 2014 case, it also included 102 dogs and 44 cats hoarded in a shelter that had been operating for 10 years in 2019, but 28 dogs and 8 of them were found at the time of discovery. The cat is dead.
The environment of the shelter is harsh, and the owner did not provide food and water for cats and dogs.
However, the owner received a monthly donation of 4,000 to 8,000 yuan and was eventually sentenced to 10 months in prison.
The report criticized that the average sentence for serious abuse has only slightly increased. In cases of serious animal cruelty, less than half of the defendants were imprisoned, and the average sentence was only 2.4 months, much lower than similar cases in foreign countries.
The team suggested that there is an urgent need for Hong Kong to formulate shelter licensing laws and introduce laws governing the duty of care to animals; the regulations governing the use of animal traps should also be improved.
A 19-year-old young man was charged with cruel cruelty to animals involved in "dedication of living animals" and witchcraft. The Fishery and Conservation Department received 10 complaints about the release of animals in three years. Therefore, zero control of animals was not cruel and only strengthened education to crack down on feeding wild animals. A total of 37 fixed fines and 60 subpoenas were issued in the two districts in one year. The Animal Protection Association criticized the prohibition of animal cruelty laws. The prosecution threshold is too high. The animal welfare law has promoted the establishment of a central consulting agency.
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