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Following is a question by the Hon Li Kwok-ying and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (February 28):
Question:
At present, under the Rabies Ordinance (Cap. 421) and its subsidiary legislation, all dogs over the age of five months must be licensed, microchipped and vaccinated against rabies; and a person who contravenes any one of these requirements is liable to a fine of $10,000. Moreover, a person who imports animals into Hong Kong without a valid permit is liable to a fine of $50,000 and to imprisonment for one year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) in each of the past three years, of the respective numbers of cases in which fines were imposed by the Court on persons who contravened the above requirements on licensing, implantation of microchips and vaccination, as well as the number of convictions for importing dogs and cats into Hong Kong without permits, and the number of dogs and cats involved; and
(b) how the law enforcement agencies such as the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the Customs and Excise Department and the Hong Kong Police Force have cooperated to combat the smuggling of dogs and cats, and what actions have been taken in this regard; whether such actions include regular inspection of the pet shops in Hong Kong to ascertain if there were dogs and cats in those shops which had been illegally imported into Hong Kong; if regular inspections had been conducted, of the inspection results in the past three years; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
Hong Kong has an impressive track record in rabies control, and has been rabies-free for the past 19 years. The last rabies case in animals was reported in 1987.
Maintenance of our rabies-free status hinges upon the effective rabies regulatory regime established under the Rabies Ordinance (Cap 421). According to Cap. 421, all dogs over 5 months of age must be licensed, implanted with microchip and vaccinated against rabies, and the license must be renewed and the dog receiving a booster vaccination every three years. Offenders may be liable to a fine of $10,000. The Government Animal Management Centers and authorised private veterinary practitioners provide the services of issuing license, implanting microchip and rabies vaccination. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) also carry out anti-rabies campaigns targeted at dogs on fishing boats and in villages in the New Territories.
(1) For the past three years, the numbers of prosecution cases for contravention of the licensing, microchipping and vaccination requirements are shown in Table 1.
Over the past three years, the figures of imported dogs and cats without a permit are shown in Table 2.
(2) In an effort to combat the smuggling of dogs and cats, AFCD, together with the Customs and Excise Department and the Police, conducts search operations against illegal importation of dogs and cats at the airport and borders on travellers, vehicles and boats entering Hong Kong. AFCD also conducts routine checks on local pet shops, during which valid vaccination certificates for the dogs and cats on sale are inspected. The dogs will also be checked to see if they have been microchipped. If a pet shop has not met all the requirements as specified in the Animal Trader License or is suspected of importing animals illegally, further investigation will be conducted. If there is sufficient evidence, AFCD will make prosecutions. Statistics on AFCD's routine checks on local pet shops from 2004 to 2006 are shown in Table 3.
Moreover, AFCD welcomes information or reports from members of the public on illegal importation of dogs and cats as well as traders who sell these animals without an Animal Trader License.
Ends/Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Issued at HKT 13:21
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