Last Sunday, hundreds of angry animal lovers staged a demonstration calling for the government to find an alterative to killing thousands of stray animals each year. They gathered in Prince Edward and marched to Cheung Sha Wan where they protested outside the headquarters of the Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), the government body in charge of animals in Hong Kong. According to the latest report issued by the Audit Commission this month, 12,000 cats and dogs, out of the 17,000 abandoned or stray animals collected by the AFCD last year, were put down because they were “not fit for adoption.” In fact, only 740 cats and dogs were successfully adopted or rehomed.
The march was organized by David Wong, the chief officer of animal welfare organization Animal Earth. He says people took to the streets because they were furious about the huge numbers of animals being needlessly killed each year. He says: “We want the government to stop the killing, and instead consider the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) method rather than just killing all the animals. Every year the department continues to receive about 15,000 animals, mostly stray cats and dogs, but the killing approach has proven useless and the stray population has never gone down.”
Countries such as the US and the UK have already started using the TNR program which involves catching cats or dogs using a humane cage trap. Once caught, they are sterilized—males are castrated and females spayed. It is common for animals also to be vaccinated against diseases such as rabies at the same time. The cat or dog is then marked to show it has been sterilized, usually by cropping the pointed end of the ear. After the animal is sterilized and vaccinated, it is placed back in the trap and allowed to recover from surgery. It is then released at the site of capture.
The AFCD consulted Hong Kong’s 18 district councils in 2007 about the possibility of running a trial TNR program, but they failed to “reach a consensus,” so the plan was dropped. The department currently subsidizes the Cat Colony Care Programme by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), which annually spays about 5,500 cats and has dropped the population of stray cats by about 40 percent since it started in 2000. But the program only receives $200,000 of government funding compared to the $30 million given to the AFCD to deal with our city’s unwanted animals. Of that enormous sum, a significant 80 percent is allocated to the actual catching and killing of the animals.
Dr. Fiona Woodhouse, the deputy director of welfare services at the SPCA, thinks it’s a shame the government has not worked harder toward launching a TNR trial program. She says: “They should try a pilot TNR program and then take a look at the results to see if they can find an alternative to killing all these animals. TNR must surely be a more proactive way to control the numbers of street animals.”
Not only does TNR prevent thousands of animals from being euthanized, it also prevents lost pets from being killed by mistake. David Wong says he frequently hears of lost pets being put down by accident, in particular animals that have not been electronically tagged. But even the most well-loved and cared for animals have also suffered at the hands of the AFCD. One of the most famous recent cases involved a shih tzu dog which ran away while being walked. The dog had an electronic chip inserted so the owner was confident he’d be reunited with his beloved pet. He called the government hotline (1823) to report his dog missing and the AFCD called back six days later to say their staff had found his dog, and he was invited to collect it. But shockingly, 30 minutes later, they called again to say it had already been put down because it was suffering from an acute skin infection. He reported the case to the Ombudsman who upheld his complaint, resulting in the AFCD being widely criticized.
What is possibly more worrying is that the government’s own policy might actually encourage people to abandon their pets. Under the current regulation, for example, if a dog owner abandons their pet deliberately and AFCD officers find it on the street and call them, they can simply say “no, I don’t want it,” then the staff will deal with the pet for free and the owner will bear no consequences. But if you lose your beloved dog, not only do you risk having it put down by accident, if you do successfully claim it back, you’ll have to pay a pounding and administration fee of at least $565. On top of all that, you may also be charged with failing to control your dog in public.
Wong hopes that more animal lovers will join future marches and protests and help put pressure on the government to introduce TNR and help save the lives of thousands of innocent animals. He says, “Hong Kong people have gained more and more awareness on animal rights and one day the AFCD will have to listen to what we have to say. But we need to keep up the fight because we’ve still got a long way to go.”
You Can Help
Whether you’re thinking of becoming a volunteer or considering adopting an animal, here are some websites that will help.
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