A Brief History of Animal Welfare Law in Hong Kong.
Animal welfare has been increasingly upheld by Hong Kong citizens. Despite more public support, animal welfare activists and animal lovers have been awaiting legislative changes that can secure better animal welfare in Hong Kong.
The earliest introduction of legal requirements to prevent animal cruelty is dated back to 1844, during which Good Order and Cleanliness Ordinance (Ordinance of 1844 No.5) stated if any individual shall wantonly and cruelly mutilate or ill-use animals without necessity, a fine not more than 2 hundred dollars shall be imposed on the offender [1].
Nearly a century had past until another ordinance was enacted. It was the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals Ordinance (Cap. 169) that came into force in 1935 [2]. It was enacted to provide for prohibition on and punishment for cruelty to animals. It provided a list of cruel acts against animals which were punishable; for examples, any person who cruelly beat, kicked, ill-treated, over-rode, over-drove, over-loaded, tortured, infuriated or terrified any animal shall be fined and liable to imprisonment for any term not longer than six months.
The description of cruel acts under the Cap.169 has largely remained unchanged throughout the years. It was not until 2006 that Cap.169 was amended to raise the maximum penalty to a fine of HKD $200,000 and three-year imprisonment [3]. Cap. 169 continues to be the primary legislation concerning animal welfare in Hong Kong.
However, the current animal welfare legislation is falling behind other common law jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom and Australia [4]. The reason is that even though the legislative principle of Cap. 169 is to deter the occurrence of animal cruelty cases, it is not sufficient to compel people to exercise the modern concept of animal welfare, which is about fulfilling animal’s natural needs, actively promoting animal welfare and leading to animal’s positive experiences.
The “Five Freedoms” principle, laid down by the Farm Animal Welfare Council in 1965, is frequently used to summarise the welfare needs of animals [5]:
Freedom from hunger and thirst
Freedom from discomfort
Freedom from pain, injury or disease
Freedom from fear and distress
Freedom to express normal behaviour
In 2019, regarding the insufficiency in the current legal framework of animal welfare, the Hong Kong Government held public consultation sessions and gathered public opinions on its proposals to promote animal welfare in Hong Kong.
The government proposed [6]:
To impose a positive duty of care on people who are responsible for animals, meaning that people must ensure the welfare needs of animals and act to protect them from pain, disease and injury.
To specify that the release of captive animals into the wild where it is unsuitable for them to live is animal cruelty and thus a criminal act.
To provide the courts with power to disqualify a person who commits animal cruelty offences from keeping animals permanently or for a specified period, and to deprive that person of any animals currently being kept.
To increase the power of authorised officers to issue improvement notices to the responsible person(s), enter premises and seize animals endangered by animal cruelty.
To increase deterrent effects by raising the maximum penalty for animal cruelty offences and their liability to judicial trials.
As Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan said:
“We hope to take a proactive stance to increase the maximum penalty against animal abusers, and improve the effectiveness of law enforcement. For years we’ve believed that this is something we should do.” [7]
The implantation of this proposal will show the determination of the government to improve animal welfare in Hong Kong and will be welcomed by every animal lover in Hong Kong.
Almost two hundred years have passed since the first legislation of prevention of animal cruelty first set its foot in Hong Kong. With the increasing advocacy of animal welfare, more legislative changes are expected and a more comprehensive legal framework is in prospect to protect the lives and welfare of animals more proactively.
Did You Know…
Eating dogs had been popular in Hong Kong. It was the outbreak of rabies in 1949 that raised public concerns about eating dogs’ and cats’ meat. It prompted the government to roll out Dogs and Cats Regulations (Cap. 167A No. 22) to impose a ban on using dogs’ and cats’ flesh for food [8].
The increasing popularity of keeping pets is evident as the number of pets in Hong Kong increased from 297,100 in 2005 to 510,600 in 2016 [9].
The heaviest sentence issued by the court since 2006 for violation of Cap. 169 was 16 months of imprisonment [6].
The numbers of suspected animal cruelty cases that the Government received in 2018, 2019 and 2020 (until 30th June) are 368, 288 and 150 respectively. The numbers of prosecutions instituted are 27, 29 and 5 respectively [10]. The rate of prosecution is about 7.6%.
Courtesy of Aaron Tong
References
[1] “Good Order and Cleanliness Ordinance” 20 Mar. 1844, https://oelawhk.lib.hku.hk/items/show/9
[2] “Prevention of Cruelty of Animals Ordinance (Cap. 169)” https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap169
[3] “Animal Welfare In Hong Kong” Jun. 2021, http://www.hk-lawyer.org/content/animal-welfare-hong-kong
[4] “Animal welfare legislation in selected places” 27 Mar. 2017, https://www.legco.gov.hk/research-publications/english/1617in09-animal-welfare-legislation-in-selected-places-20170327-e.pdf
[5] “The Five Freedoms” https://www.sheltervet.org/five-freedoms
[6] “Proposals To Enhance Animal Welfare In Hong Kong” Apr. 2019, https://www.pets.gov.hk/english/animal_health_and_welfare/files/Consultation_doc_eng.pdf
[7] “Animal abusers may face up to 10 years in jail or fined HK$2M in new gov’t proposal” 26 Apr. 2019, https://hongkongfp.com/2019/04/26/animal-abusers-may-face-10-years-jail-fined-hk2m-new-govt-proposal/
[8] “Cap. 167A Dogs and Cats Regulations” https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap167A?xpid=ID_1438402768451_004
[9] “Animal welfare and management” 23 Nov. 2018, https://www.legco.gov.hk/research-publications/english/1819issh09-animal-welfare-and-management-20181123-e.pdf
[10] “LCQ20: Prevention of cruelty to animals” 4 Nov. 2020, https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202011/04/P2020110400320.htm?fontSize=1
Sources of images:
2. https://www.hk01.com/01觀點/269365/政府積極修改動物法例-香港動保能否進一台階#media_id=2161956
3. https://skypost.ulifestyle.com.hk/article/2375668/元朗唐狗女走失逾兩星期%20狗兄無懼酷熱雷雨%20四出尋妹