Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is a question by the Hon Nixie Lam and a reply by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, in the Legislative Council today (May 6):
Question:
Last month, the Office of The Ombudsman published an investigation report on the Government’s work in combating cruelty to animals, highlighting issues such as insufficient guidelines and hasty closure of cases in the enforcement work of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the authorities briefed this Council on the key proposals to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance in May 2022, of the reasons why the legislative amendment proposals have not yet been formally submitted; whether it will undertake to complete the legislative amendments, or to implement them in phases, within the term of the current Government; if so, the specific timetable; if not, the reasons for that;
President,
The Government has been curbing acts of cruelty to animals through stringent enforcement and preventive work such as education. On enforcement, under the division of work within the Government, the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is responsible for handling emergency cases; whereas non-emergency cases reported through platforms including the 1823, such as reports on providing insufficient food, are followed up by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD).
The Office of The Ombudsman earlier published an investigation report on the Government’s work in combating cruelty to animals, which acknowledges that the AFCD’s investigations into cases of cruelty to animals are currently constrained by its enforcement powers as it cannot enter premises to carry out investigations, and put forward various recommendations regarding the AFCD’s various areas of work, including the follow-up of reports, case monitoring and collaborative efforts to combat animal cruelty. The AFCD accepts all the recommendations of the report and is actively following up on various improvement measures, including enhancement of case-handling workflows, strengthening internal monitoring mechanisms and enhancement of professional training for frontline staff, etc. The department will continue to work with the HKPF, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and other organisations, to intensify efforts to combat acts of cruelty to animals.
Having consulted the Education Bureau and the Security Bureau, the reply to the question from the Hon Nixie Lam is as follows: