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LCQ15: Working dogs of various Government departments
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     Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by Hon Wong Yung-kan in the Legislative Council today (July 8):

Question:

     Will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the number of working dogs currently kept by various government departments, broken down by species, the type of work and the government department concerned;

(b) how the relevant government departments deal with those dogs that fail to meet the work requirements after training, and of the number of such dogs in the past three years;

(c) of the arrangements for these dogs after their retirement, and whether they will be adopted by their handlers; if not, of the relevant arrangements in place; and

(d) whether the retired dogs which have not been adopted will be euthanised; if so, of the number of dogs euthanised in the past three years?

Reply:

President,

(a) The number of working dogs currently kept by various government departments, broken down by species, the type of work and the government department concerned is attached in Annex.

(b) The working dogs of Customs and Excise Department; Fire Services Department; Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department; and Food and Environmental Hygiene Department have been trained and have met the work requirements as and when they are recruited.  The remaining two departments (Hong Kong Police Force and Correctional Services Department) will arrange for the disqualified dogs to be adopted by staff members or members of the public through application if these dogs do not live up to the work requirements after training.
     
     In the past three years, Hong Kong Police Force had three dogs and Correctional Services Department had nine dogs which failed to meet the work requirements after training.

(c) When a working dog retires, its handler is given priority to adopt it.  If the handler is unable to adopt the dog, other staff members and members of the public can apply to adopt the retired dog.  The department concerned will approve the application for adoption only if it is satisfied that the adopter can take adequate care of the retired dog.

(d) In the past three years, all retired dogs in the departments (save Correctional Services Department (Note 1)) were adopted.  No retired dogs were euthanised because they had not been adopted.

Note 1: Correctional Services Department has sent two retired dogs to its Training and Support Team of the Dog Unit to assist in the training of dog handlers and to participate in performances during special events.

Ends/Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:26

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