New Study Finds Mongrel Dogs Are
the Most Common Victims of Animal Cruelty
Underneath the glamour of Hong Kong are abandoned animals tucked away in filthy, unregulated shelters, hidden from sight and unknown to the public. HKU Associate Professor of Law Amanda Whitfort has teamed up with Dr Fiona Woodhouse, Deputy Director (Welfare), SPCA (HK), Shuping Ho, Welfare, Research and Development Officer, SPCA (HK) and Marsha Chun, Investigator, Inspectorate, SPCA (HK) to conduct a one-year research project studying animal cruelty cases in Hong Kong. Funded by the Public Policy Research Funding Scheme from the Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office of the HKSAR Government, the study looked into several animal cruelty cases in the SPCA database from 2013 to 2019.
Upon detailed analysis, the study unveiled that mongrel dogs are common victims of animal cruelty. Most cases involved traumatic physical injury or neglect by the animals’ owner or family members. Also, a majority of neglect cases involved dogs abandoned inside private premises like village houses without food or water, and the owners were almost always absent. In one third of the cases, the animals died. Sadly, the owners who abandoned animals avoided prosecution because they could not be located within the 6-month time limit to be charged by police in 20% of the cases.
Tracing the crux of the problem, most cases involved stray dogs collected by people who did not have sufficient financial resources or time to care for them adequately, risking the animals’ life by placing them in unhygienic surroundings. In two significant cases, the dogs had started to eat each other to survive, while in the other case, more than 100 animals had been collected by the offenders and placed in so-called rescue shelters. These shelters were accepting animals from members of the public in exchange for donations.
On one hand, education is necessary to equip owners with knowledge to care for the animals they took in as well as the ability to identify legal and safe shelters for animals rather than risking their welfare by abandoning them on the streets. On the other hand, to counter the risk to animals in unregulated shelters, there is a pressing need to introduce shelter licensing legislation in Hong Kong. Also, registration requirements for acquiring large numbers of animals would also be helpful in monitoring and keeping track of potential animal cruelty. Meanwhile, the lack of financial transparency of animal rescue shelters as to how public donations are being used further justifies the necessity for regulations.
At present, Government policies prohibiting the keeping of dogs in public housing alongside historical dog population management strategies have contributed to the problem of abandonment of dogs in Hong Kong.
The report also provided several other findings to indicate the need for:
• a duty of care for animals to be introduced to compliment current anti-cruelty legislation;
• regulations to control grooming parlours, animal trainers and boarding facilities;
• new offences to deter animal poisoners;
• improved regulations to control the use of traps;
• a new offence to combat animals falling from heights; and
• prohibitions on mercy release of wild animals.
For those interested to read the full report, please visit Ms Whitfort's website, while the executive summary of the study can be downloaded here.
Header Image - Picture: Unsplash
