We seek to promote an interest in animal law as well as ensuring that the rights of animals are being protected

OUR HISTORY

We share this world with animals. Animals undoubtedly have a claim within our society to be treated as equal sentient living creatures that deserve to be protected by the law.

Equality before the law is the principle that each independent being must be treated equally by the law. The law should seek to protect the vulnerable, weak and especially those who cannot speak for themselves. When we consider the concept of animal welfare, we think of the health, happiness and life of animals, providing them proper and adequate assistance so that they are not exploited by people. However, and despite the ever increasing cases of animal abuse, there still is a distinct lack of representation and protection for animals.

It was a disappointing realisation that despite the number of legal professionals we have in Hong Kong, there was a distinct lack of any organisation that concentrated predominantly on animals, and how to improve their welfare and lives. As such, the Hong Kong Animal Law and Protection Organisation (HKALPO) was established in early 2020 with the aim of bringing together lawyers, law students and professional members of the community, in order to work collectively to better fulfil this dream.

There has already been a lot of work done in the animal law arena in Hong Kong, mainly by Associate Professor Amanda Whitfort. In 2008 she was awarded a Public Policy Research Grant (PPRG) by the Research Grants Council (RGC) to provide a comparative review of the animal welfare laws of Hong Kong. In partnership with Dr Fiona Woodhouse, Deputy Director (Welfare) of the SPCA, she successfully completed this review in 2010. In 2009 she developed and began teaching Animal Law and Rights, the first internationally focused Animal Law course in Asia. In 2011, she was awarded the Law Faculty’s Knowledge Exchange award for her transfer of animal welfare related legal knowledge to the SPCA (Hong Kong), the Hong Kong Administration and the Hong Kong public. In the same year she was awarded a RGC funded Public Impact Knowledge Exchange grant to review Hong Kong’s local wild animal conservation legislation. In 2016, Ms Whitfort secured both a KE Impact Project Scheme grant: Wildlife Crime: Knowledge Transfer for Informed Sentencing and a further RGC grant to study Hong Kong’s legislative powers to regulate international trade in endangered wild animals.

However, there is always something more that needs to be done and there are still so many problems in Hong Kong relating to animals that need addressing. These include but are certainly not limited to: amendments to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance, Cap 169, the need for legislation governing animal shelters, a change in the HKSAR Government policy that does not allow dogs in public housing, updates to Laboratory animal laws, better standards in slaughter houses and better investigation of smuggling of endangered species in and out of Hong Kong.

Our logo is inspired by the pangolin, which is a scaly mammal found locally in Hong Kong. The word ‘pangolin’ comes from the Malay word ‘penggulung’ which means ‘one that rolls up’. When it is threatened, a pangolin will curl itself into a tight ball. These animals are the world’s most trafficked animal, hunted for meat, for use in traditional eastern medicine and as fashion accessories. There are eight species of pangolins and all are threatened with extinction and listed on the IUCN Red List as either vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. The HKALPO hopes that highlighting the pangolin through our logo will help raise the necessary awareness to the plight of these animals.

The HKALPO is run on the voluntary commitment of its members. Whilst we are currently seeking members with either a legal or professional background, we invite members of the general public who share our mission statement to follow our social media accounts and to sign up for newsletters so that they are well informed and kept up to date with all we achieve.

We are confident that a large proportion of the public of Hong Kong care deeply about animals and want the law to adequately represent and protect their rights and welfare. We hope the genesis of the HKALPO will be a strong and positive step in the quest to bring awareness to the problems and issues animals face, and hope that with time, we are able to make a difference in not only Hong Kong, but worldwide.