Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ20: Pet cremation service and hospice service

Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (November 14):

Question:

It has been reported that a company providing hospice service for pets was entrusted by its clients to cremate their pets but it eventually sent the carcasses direct to the Animal Carcass Collection Points (Collection Points) under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), arousing concern among animal lovers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the channels through which pet owners or relevant organisations (e.g. pet clinics or companies providing hospice service for pets) may dispose of the carcasses of pets at present;

(b) of the total number of animal carcasses collected by FEHD's Collection Points in the past three years and where such carcasses came from, with a breakdown by the types of animals;

(c) of the handling procedures to be adopted and the hygiene requirements to be met by the public before sending the carcasses of pets to FEHD's Collection Points; whether they will be subject to any penalties if they dispose of the carcasses of pets at the Collection Points without complying with such procedures or requirements; if yes, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(d) whether the authorities or the Consumer Council had received any complaints relating to hospice service for pets in the past three years; if yes, of the details, and how they followed up such complaints; and

(e) of the laws currently in place to regulate hospice service for pets; if there is no regulation, whether the authorities will consider formulating any guidelines or regulating it through licensing; if yes, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

At present, the relevant government departments may, according to their respective mandates, inspect premises where pet cremation service and hospice service are provided, for the purpose of checking compliance or otherwise with the relevant legislation and requirements, including the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311) and the land lease, etc.

The Environmental Protection Department handles complaints about the emission of black smoke or odour from the cremation of pet carcasses, and takes enforcement action according to the Air Pollution Control Ordinance. Should the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) receive complaints related to the handling of pet carcasses, odour and fuel storage, its staff will inspect the premises concerned and take enforcement action under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance where necessary. For complaints about breaches of lease conditions where substantiated, the Lands Department will generally take appropriate lease enforcement action, which may include the issue of a warning letter to the owner concerned and, where the circumstances so warrant, the registration of the warning letter at the Land Registry (commonly known as "imposing an encumbrance").

My reply to the question raised by the Member is as follows:

(a) to (c) Under Section 10 of the Public Cleansing and Prevention of Nuisances Regulation (Cap. 132BK), no person shall, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, place or cause to be placed, any corpse or carcass on or in any street or public place; the common parts of any building; any watercourse, stream, channel, ditch or reservoir or the waters of Hong Kong; any Government property except with the consent of a public officer. Offenders are liable to a maximum penalty of $25,000 and six months' imprisonment.

When bringing pet carcasses to FEHD for disposal, pet owners or the relevant organisations should wrap up the pet carcasses properly with bags and deliver them to the refuse collection points managed by FEHD. The pet carcasses will be handled as municipal solid waste and collected by FEHD's contractors for disposal at landfills, which are well designed in engineering terms to safeguard against ground water and other contaminations.

Between 2009 and 2012 (up to the end of October), FEHD collected a total of 36 365 animal carcasses from its refuse collection points, with breakdown as follows:

(a) No. of dog carcasses                             24 378
(b) No. of cat carcasses                              11 441
(c) No. of other animal carcasses                    546
(including rabbits, tortoises, hamsters and snakes, etc.)
FEHD does not have the breakdown of these animal carcasses by their sources.

(d) From 2009 to 2012 (up to the end of October), the Consumer Council received two complaints about pet cemetery services, both of which were related to the way in which the pet carcasses were handled. Upon follow-up by the Consumer Council, one complainant withdrew the complaint while the other requested that the complaint be placed on record.

(e) The Legislative Council enacted the Trade Descriptions (Unfair Trade Practices) (Amendment) Ordinance 2012 (Ord. No. 25 of 2012) in July this year. Under the Ordinance, it is an offence for traders to apply false trade descriptions to services for supply to consumers. The Administration plans to bring the Ordinance into operation next year.

The Trade Descriptions (Unfair Trade Practices)(Amendment) Ordinance 2012 taken together with other existing legislative provisions, including the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance and the Air Pollution Control Ordinance, are adequate for regulating issues relating to consumer interests, air pollution and public health that may be caused by the operation of pet cremators and hospice service for pets. The Government has no plan to set up a separate licensing system.


Ends/Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Issued at HKT 12:35

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