Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ12: Pet hospice services
Following is a question by the Hon Alice Mak Mei-kuen and a written
reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the
Legislative Council today (November 20):
Question:
Since its cessation of public cremation service for animals in 1999, the
Government disposes of animal carcasses collected only by sending them
to landfills. Members of the public who need hospice or cremation
service for pets can only patronise private companies which provide such
service (hospice service companies), resulting in continuous increase in
the number of such companies in recent years. However, some members of
the public have pointed out that as the Government does not regulate
such kind of companies, the rights and interests of consumers lack
protection and the cremation service concerned often causes
environmental hygiene problems which affect residents in the
neighbourhood. In this connection, will the Government inform this
Council:
(a) of the number of animal carcasses collected by the Food and
Environmental Hygiene Department in each of the past five years, with a
breakdown by animal type;
(b) whether it knows the number of hospice service companies in each of
the past five years, with a breakdown by building type of the premises
where cremation service is provided;
(c) of the number of complaints relating to hospice service companies
received by the authorities in each of the past five years, with a
breakdown by the content of such complaints (including the business
practices, quality of service, and environmental hygiene problems caused
by cremation service etc.);
(d) whether the authorities had conducted inspections in the past five
years to check if hospice service companies and the premises where
cremation service was provided had contravened legislation on fire
safety, land use or environmental hygiene, etc.; if they had, of the
number of inspections conducted each year, with a breakdown of the
contravention cases;
(e) whether the authorities will consider afresh regulating hospice
service companies by means of licensing; if they will, of the details;
if not, the reasons for that; how the authorities will effectively
address environmental hygiene problems caused by cremation service for
pets; and
(f) whether the authorities will consider afresh resuming the provision
of cremation service for animals; if they will, 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 of pet hospice services to check
compliance with pertinent legislation and requirements, including the
Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), the Air
Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311), the Fire Services Ordinance
(Cap. 95), the Dangerous Goods Ordinance (Cap. 295), the Buildings
Ordinance (Cap. 123) and the land leases, etc.
Upon receipt of complaints about sanitary nuisance emanating from
premises providing pet hospice services, staff of the Food and
Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) will inspect the premises
concerned and, where necessary, take enforcement actions under the
Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132). For
complaints about black smoke or odour emitted in the process of
cremating pet carcasses, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD)
will carry out inspections and take enforcement actions according to the
Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311) as necessary. Inspections and
enforcement actions as required may also be carried out by the Fire
Services Department (FSD) and the Buildings Department (BD) pursuant to
the Fire Services Ordinance (Cap. 95), the Dangerous Goods Ordinance
(Cap. 295) and the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123) respectively. For
substantiated complaints about breaches of lease conditions, the Lands
Department (LandsD) will take appropriate lease enforcement actions.
Furthermore, under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362), it is an
offence for traders to deploy specified unfair trade practices against
consumers, including false trade descriptions to services for supply to
consumers.
My reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Member is
set out below.
(a) The numbers of animal carcasses collected by FEHD from its refuse
collection points between 2009 and October 2013 are shown in Annex 1.
(b) According to information available to the Administration, over ten
operators are now providing pet hospice services in the local market.
Most of them operate in industrial buildings, and some in commercial
buildings or the rural areas. We do not keep information about changes
to the number of operators over the past five years.
(c) The numbers of complaints received by EPD, FEHD, LandsD, FSD and the
Consumer Council (CC) related to pet hospice services between January
2009 and October 2013 are shown in Annex 2.
(d) The number of inspections conducted by EPD, FEHD, LandsD, FSD and BD
on premises related to pet hospice services between January 2009 and
October 2013 is shown in Annex 3.
(e) and (f) As in other trades, operators of pet hospice services have
to comply with the relevant legislation and lease conditions. We are of
the view that the existing legislation [including the Public Health and
Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), the Air Pollution Control
Ordinance (Cap. 311), the Fire Services Ordinance (Cap. 95), the
Dangerous Goods Ordinance (Cap. 295), the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123)
and the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362)] is adequate for
regulating issues of air pollution, public health, consumer protection,
etc. that may arise from the operation of pet hospice services. The
Administration has no plan to set up a separate licensing system.
In general, pet carcasses are not regarded as clinical waste. Provided
that basic personal hygiene measures are taken, the risk of disease
transmission through pet carcasses is very low. Infectious diseases of
pets that are of serious concern to public health are uncommon. For
disposal of pet carcasses by FEHD, pet owners or the relevant
organisations should wrap up the pet carcasses properly in bags and
deliver them to the refuse collection points managed by FEHD. The pet
carcasses will be safely disposed of as with other municipal solid waste
at landfills, which are well designed in engineering terms to guard
against ground water and other contamination. We consider such practices
acceptable from the perspective of public health. Therefore, the
Administration has no plan to introduce public cremation services for
pets.
Ends/Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:43
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