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Following is a question by the Hon James To Kun-sun and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (June 10)
Question:
In recent years, there has been a growing concern about animal rights among members of the public, but incidents of cruelty to animals still occur from time to time. Besides, quite a number of cats and dogs which have been abandoned by their owners or have gone astray are left homeless in the streets, and stray cats and dogs caught by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) will be euthanised if they are not reclaimed or re-homed. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of reports on lost pets received by (i) the Animal Management Centres under AFCD, (ii) the Police and (iii) the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in each of the past five years, and among such cases, the number of those involving multiple reports filed with more than one organisation;
(2) among the cases in (1), of the number of pets which were found, with a tabulated breakdown by type of pet and their percentages in the total number of cases;
(3) given that the Rabies Regulation (Cap. 421A) provides that any persons keeping any dog over the age of five months must obtain a licence, and the licensing procedures include microchipping the dog for identification, among the number of reported cases of lost dogs in the past five years, of the number of those in which the owner of the dog was located with the information contained in the microchip implanted in the dog;
(4) whether it has plans to enact laws to require owners of cats to arrange for microchipping their cats and obtain licences for keeping the cats, so as to facilitate the authorities to locate the owners of the cats they have caught;
(5) of the number of animals euthanised by AFCD in the past five years, with a breakdown by type of animal;
(6) whether it will (i) draw up a blacklist of persons who were convicted of the offences under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance (Cap. 169) for having committed acts of cruelty to animals, (ii) permanently forbid them to purchase or adopt any animals, and (iii) refuse their applications for licences for keeping animals; and
(7) given that the authorities indicated in July 2014 that they would proceed to prepare the legislative amendments to the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Animal Traders) Regulations (Cap. 139B), with a view to enhancing animal health and welfare through better regulation of animal trading, as well as the breeding and selling of dogs, and they expected to table the amendment regulation within the 2014-2015 session of this Council, of the current progress of the relevant drafting work?
Reply:
President,
The Government has been striving to promote in the community a culture of care for animals with a view to protecting animal welfare. Under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance (Cap. 169), any person who cruelly treats an animal or causes it unnecessary suffering is liable on summary conviction to a maximum fine of $200,000 and imprisonment for up to three years. In addition, according to the Rabies Ordinance (Cap. 421), a keeper of any animal who, without reasonable excuse, abandons that animal commits an offence and is liable to a maximum fine of $10,000 and imprisonment for up to six months.
At present, stray animals caught in Hong Kong, including lost pets loitering on the street, will be sent to the animal management centres (AMCs) of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) and kept there for observation. For animals with a microchip implanted, the AMCs will try to locate their owners based on the information on the microchips. In general, these animals will stay in the centres temporarily for about 10 to 20 days. Those without a microchip will stay in the centres for at least four days allowing time for their owners to reclaim them. In those cases where the animals in question (be they animals handed over by pet owners or left unclaimed) are in good health and assessed by a veterinary surgeon as having a gentle temperament and suitable for adoption, AFCD will arrange for their transfer to animal welfare organisations for adoption by members of the public. We would only euthanise those animals that remain unclaimed or not adopted at the end of the process.
We consider that public education is most important for safeguarding and promoting animal welfare. To this end, AFCD has established a dedicated team to devise, implement and fortify public education and publicity programmes for disseminating messages that help promote care for animals and a responsible attitude for keeping pets. In fact, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has pointed out that building up a responsible attitude for keeping pets could significantly reduce the number of stray dogs as well as the incidence of zoonotic diseases.
We have been encouraging members of the public to adopt stray animals. AFCD co-operates with animal welfare organisations on the provision of animal adoption services. In addition, AFCD has joined hands with the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and the Society for Abandoned Animals to roll out, since January 2015, a three-year Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) pilot programme in designated zones in Cheung Chau and Tai Tong, Yuen Long, with a view to ascertaining the effectiveness of TNR as a tool for tackling the problems posed by stray dogs and the associated nuisance.
Through the above measures, we are working earnestly to safeguard and promote animal welfare and reduce the number of stray animals.
My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(1) The number of reports on lost animals received by the AMCs under AFCD in the past five years is set out in Annex 1.
The Police indicate that they do not keep such statistics. Nor does AFCD separately keep statistics showing the number of reports on lost pets received by SPCA.
(2) In relation to the cases mentioned in part (1) above, the statistics kept by AFCD do not include a breakdown showing the number of cases in which the lost animals were eventually found. As such, the relevant percentage is not available.
The overall number of animals reclaimed by pet owners from the AMCs under the AFCD (Note) in the past five years is set out in Annex 2.
(3) The number of dogs (with microchips implanted) reclaimed by their owners from the AMCs under the AFCD in the past five years is as follows:
Year Number of dogs (with microchips implanted)
reclaimed
2010 611
2011 590
2012 478
2013 449
2014 425
(4) The Rabies Regulation (Cap. 421A) provides that any person who keeps a dog over the age of five months should do so under and in accordance with a licence granted by the Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation. Under the same regulation, the keeper of a dog shall cause that dog to be vaccinated against rabies at the age of five months and thereafter at intervals not exceeding three years. In addition, the regulation provides that the keeper of a dog that has been vaccinated against rabies shall ensure that the dog is implanted with a specified device (i.e. a microchip). Any person who contravenes any of the above provisions commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $10,000.
Under the current legal provisions, dogs have to be vaccinated, microchipped and licensed. The primary purpose of these provisions is to prevent and control the spread of rabies more effectively. At present, the risk of rabies in southern China is primarily associated with dogs. Dogs contracted with rabies will generally become exceptionally furious, irritable and could be easily incited into taking aggressive action against anything in motion. As dogs need outdoor exercise frequently, infected dogs are more likely to transmit the rabies virus in the community. On the contrary, cats contracted with rabies are more prone to go into hiding. Pet cats are mainly kept indoors and seldom taken out for a walk. Therefore, the risk of infected cats spreading rabies is relatively lower than that in the case of infected dogs. In the light of the above considerations including the risk posed to public health, the habits and the welfare of the animals in question, animals other than dogs are not required to be vaccinated, microchipped and licensed under the existing Rabies Regulation (Cap. 421A).
Although the current legislation does not require cats to be vaccinated, microchipped and licensed, cat owners may, as they think fit, take their cats to practising veterinary surgeons for vaccination (against feline epidemic diseases and/or rabies) and microchipping (for identification purposes).
(5) Through vigorous implementation of the measures described above, we have managed to put the number of stray animals under effective control. Over the past five years, the number of animals requiring euthanasia has declined by 40 per cent. We will make continuous efforts to pursue these measures and enhance their efficacy.
In fact, a number of international animal organisations, including the OIE, agree that in situations where various measures for managing stray dogs have been implemented and yet the stray dogs caught remain high in number or not fit for adoption, euthanasia would be an appropriate solution in the circumstances. There are also cases where animals that are ill or hurt need to be euthanised to relieve them from suffering.
The number of animals euthanised by AFCD in the past five years is shown in Annex 3.
(6) We note that some advocates of animal welfare in the community have proposed that a blacklist of persons convicted of offences under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance (Cap. 169) should be drawn up such that those on the blacklist should be barred from keeping any animals. The controversial nature of this proposal is such that the Government needs to consider its feasibility carefully before we are in a position to take a firm view.
(7) We are drafting the proposed amendments to the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Animal Traders) Regulations (Cap. 139B). Judging from the progress made thus far, we expect to table the amendment regulations before the Legislative Council within 2015.
Note:
The AMCs under AFCD usually take in stray animals caught in the community, animals handed over by pet owners, and animals that have to be detained etc.
Ends/Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:41
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