Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ3: Animal welfare
Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a reply by the Secretary for
Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (June 17)
Question:
Some members of the public have relayed to me that the Legislative Assembly of
the Macao Special Administrative Region generally approved the animal protection
bill last year and the relevant committee is discussing the bill. The Taipei
City Government has recently announced that it would implement various
animal-friendly policies, including imposing heavy penalties on persons who
maliciously abandon animals and encouraging the establishment of animal care
homes in the community by providing rent subsidies. In Hong Kong, on the
contrary, the Government has neither put in place explicit animal-friendly
policies nor reviewed the effectiveness of the existing measures for the
protection of animals' rights, resulting in incessant occurrence of cases of
cruelty to animals by increasingly brutal means. In this connection, will the
Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department set up a
working group in 2011 jointly with the Police, the Food and Environmental
Hygiene Department and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(Hong Kong) to explore ways of handling animal cruelty cases, of the work
progress of the working group, including whether it has proposed measures to
combat cruelty to animals; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for
that; given that the Police also launched the "Animal Watch Scheme" in 2011, of
the details and the effectiveness of the work concerned;
(2) whether it will consider following the practices of the Netherlands, the
United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, etc., to establish an
animal police team dedicated to handling animal cruelty cases, as well as
authorising, through enacting legislation, animal welfare organisations in the
community to perform frontline patrol, handle complaints and conduct
investigations, and refer cases to the Police for law enforcement actions after
they have gathered sufficient evidence; if it will, of the details; if not, the
reasons for that; and
(3) whether it will consider amending the existing legislation to create
offences concerning animal abandonment; whether it will enhance the support for
animal welfare organisations in the community, so as to help them operate animal
care homes to provide proper shelters for stray cats and dogs; if it will, of
the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Over the years, the Government has been striving to promote in the community a
culture of care for animals with a view to protecting animal welfare. At
present, activities and conduct involving animals are regulated by the
Government under several pieces of legislation, including the Public Health
(Animals and Birds) Ordinance (Cap. 139) and its subsidiary legislation, the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance (Cap. 169), the Wild Animals
Protection Ordinance (Cap. 170) as well as the Rabies Ordinance (Cap. 421) and
its subsidiary legislation. At the same time, the Government adopts a
multi-pronged approach to safeguard and promote animal welfare by means of
administrative measures as well as public education and publicity activities.
For cases involving acts of cruelty to animals, enforcement action will be taken
by relevant government departments as appropriate in accordance with the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance (Cap 169). Any person who commits an
offence under the Ordinance is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of
$200,000 and to imprisonment for up to three years. The heaviest penalty that
has thus far been handed down by the court, namely imprisonment for 16 months
(in a case in January 2014), bears significant deterrence. Under the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance (Cap. 169), the Government has, in the past
three years, taken out the following number of prosecutions: 19 in 2012, 20 in
2013 and 29 in 2014. There were 18, 15 and 24 cases of successful convictions
respectively.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has established a
dedicated team to devise, implement and fortify public education and publicity
programmes for promoting care for animals and a responsible attitude for keeping
pets. AFCD has also been encouraging members of the public to adopt stray
animals. It cooperates with animal welfare organisations in the provision of
animal adoption services and provides these organisations with technical and
financial support.
In the 2015-16 financial year, we have earmarked $39.6 million for animal
management and the promotion of animal welfare. The estimated provision for work
relating to the enforcement of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance
(Cap. 169) is $2.2 million.
My reply to various parts of the question is as follows:
(1) In 2011, AFCD, in conjunction with the Hong Kong Police Force (Police), the
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong) (SPCA), set up a working group for
forging closer cooperation and mutual support in handling animal cruelty cases.
The working group meets regularly to discuss the handling of individual cases,
and devise and review guidelines for improving efficiency in the detection and
prevention of animal cruelty cases. Meanwhile, the working group has been
organising training courses for building up better understanding of animal
welfare issues and skills for handling animal cruelty cases. It keeps in view
the level of penalty handed down by the court, including the need to make
recommendations to the Department of Justice for review as and when necessary.
The Police, in collaboration with AFCD, SPCA, veterinary associations and animal
welfare groups, introduced the Animal Watch Scheme in 2011 to strengthen the
capacity of the Police in the investigation of animal cruelty cases. The scheme
aims at consolidating cooperation among various stakeholders and enhancing the
efficacy of Police efforts in the investigation of such cases. This scheme has
the support of two professional veterinary bodies, namely the Hong Kong
Veterinary Association and China (Hong Kong) Veterinary Association. AFCD and
SPCA also provide professional advice to assist the Police in this respect.
Under the scheme, training programmes and forums are organised for police
officers to further enhance their professional knowledge and investigation
skills in handling related offences.
In the event, most of the cases that have been acted upon by the Police came
about by virtue of reports and information furnished by members of the public
other than owners of the battered animals. This bears testimony to the
effectiveness of the scheme in raising public awareness of the need to combat
animal cruelty cases.
(2) In law enforcement, both the Police and AFCD will investigate into cases of
cruelty to animals and institute prosecution. Where necessary, AFCD will provide
professional veterinary advice, while FEHD will assist in handling environmental
hygiene issues and dead animals. SPCA has set up a 24-hour enquiry hotline for
such cases, and will also provide animals with medical services and facilitate
law enforcement officers in their work.
Reports of animal cruelty cases received by the Police will be taken up by crime
investigation teams which have the professional investigation skills and
experience required to follow up any criminal cases, including those involving
cruelty to animals. Depending on the geographical distribution and prevailing
trend of cases, the Police may consider assigning cases to dedicated teams in
the interest of ensuring comprehensive and focused investigation and early
detection. This arrangement allows the Police to flexibly deploy its limited
resources in tandem with the Animal Watch Scheme, thereby enhancing the overall
effectiveness of its efforts in combating acts of cruelty to animals.
The Government considers that the existing mechanism has proved to be effective
and therefore has no plan to establish an animal police team.
(3) At present, pursuant to the Rabies Ordinance (Cap. 421), a keeper of any
animal who, without reasonable excuse, abandons that animal commits an offence
and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $10,000 and imprisonment for up
to six months. The Government has no plan to increase the penalty level for the
time being.
We consider that public education is very 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
promoting care for animals and a responsible attitude of keeping pets.
In addition, AFCD has been working in close collaboration with a number of
animal welfare organisations in promoting animal welfare and better animal
management. The Government will provide funding for animal welfare organisations
to carry out relevant projects, including the establishment and improvement of
animal re-homing centres that provide temporary shelters for stray animals
awaiting re-homing. Where individual animal welfare organisations seek to use
government land for the purpose of promoting animal welfare, we will consider
giving policy support on the merits of each case.
We also actively encourage members of the public to adopt stray animals. AFCD
cooperates with animal welfare organisations in arranging animal adoption
services. The department provides free neutering service for animals adopted
through these organisations.
The Government will review the existing policies and measures from time to time,
and study overseas experience in the interest of ensuring that our policies and
measures remain appropriate and relevant in meeting changing needs.
Ends/Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:56
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