The old man who was convicted of taking roadside dog carcasses and viscera was convicted and dismissed the appeal: non-slaughtering can also be sued

The old man was seen by the female driver to take the internal organs of the dog's corpse while he was walking and wanted to take it away.

The old man was later charged, explaining that he just wanted to take the internal organs home for disposal. After interrogation, he was found guilty of attempting to use dog meat as food, and was sentenced to 5 days in prison with a suspended sentence of 1 year.

The old man appealed.

Judge Li Yunteng of the High Court ruled today (18th) that the original intent of the legislation was to target the cruelty of slaughtering dogs for food. Contrary, that the ruling is appropriate, dismissed the old man's appeal.

Female passers-by revealed the incident that day.

(See the picture below for details)

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The defendant, Zhang Xianming (aged 69, retired), was convicted on October 14, 2020, of attempting to use a brown female Tang dog as food on the footpath of the San Tin section of Castle Peak Road, Lok Ma Chau.

Female driver pays 100 yuan to keep the dog's body

The case stated that the female dog was suspected of being hit by a car. A female driver drove by and saw Zhang pulling the dog to the side of the road, and took out the internal organs from the dog's body with his bare hands and put them in a plastic bag. The female driver asked Zhang not to take it away. In order to let the dog keep the whole body, and willing to give Zhang 100 yuan, Zhang finally accepted the money and handed over the internal organs.

Arguing that he didn't feel the intention to grab the internal organs

Zhang was later charged. He explained in court that it was out of good intentions, and he wanted to clean up the body and the environment to avoid blocking traffic.

However, the original judge pointed out that Zhang did not need to take out the internal organs of the dog, and even a caring person would not handle it with his bare hands. He believed that Zhang wanted to take the internal organs and eat them home.

After Zhang was convicted, he appealed to the High Court, but no grounds for appeal were presented.

Even so, Judge Li Yunteng of the High Court believed that there were still controversial points in the case, including the witness's oral testimony, Zhang's intention to commit the crime, and whether the internal organs were dog meat, so he also explained in his judgment.

The carcass shall include the internal organs of the animal

Li Guan pointed out that although Article 22 of the "Cats and Dogs Regulations" used to sue Zhang, although the wording states "the slaughter of dogs or cats for food", the prosecution also agreed that the dogs involved were not slaughtered or sold for food. However, the judge held that the "carcass" mentioned in the article generally refers to the carcass of an animal after death, not necessarily processed by Tuxin, and the article also specifies that it is "any part of the carcass". Therefore, it is considered that the internal organs of animals should also be included, and it is emphasized that if it is limited to the shells of animals, it will violate the original intention of the legislation.

Non-slaughter acquisition does not constitute a defense

Li Guan said that although the magistrate's discussion on this side was insufficient in the original trial, he believed that even if Zhang Yigou was killed instead of being slaughtered or sold, it could not constitute a defense reason.

In addition, Li Guan also agreed with the Magistrate's inference that if Zhang had not been obstructed by the female driver, he would have brought the dog's offal back to eat, believing that his behavior exceeded the preparatory act of using dog meat as food, and thus dismissed Zhang's appeal.

Case number: HCMA 265/2021

Sixty-nin-year-old Weng Road saw the dog's corpse and took its internal organs, ruling that the crime of using the dog as food was suspended for 1 year. The Xintian old man dug up the dog's internal organs with his bare hands and was suspected of eating the carcass. The dog man was arrested and punished too lightly, causing netizens to shout