Earlier this month, there was a suspected case of animal cruelty in Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong. A female black mongrel had displayed worrying symptoms of vomiting and urinary incontinence a short while after its owner had walked away from her. Several broken broomstick handles were also found near the scene. The Hong Kong police are currently investigating the situation and no arrests have yet to be made.

According to the news report, the dog’s owner had been taking care of the mongrel since rescuing it from a rubbish bin as a puppy. Her owner makes a living by scavenging for discarded cardboards on streets and is responsible for feeding the black mongrel as well as another brown mongrel.

On the day in question, when the dog’s owner returned from a bathroom break, the black mongrel was found to be extremely unwell despite showing no physical injuries, raising the suspicion that it had been abused. Two weeks prior to this incident, a 10 month old puppy belonging to the same owner was suspected to be beaten to death.

After receiving a request from the police to assist with the investigation, the Hong Kong SPCA, searched the surroundings and found another 1.7 metre long broomstick.

Hong Kong Housing Authority Policy

The dog’s owner lives in a Hong Kong public housing estate, and as such, she is not allowed to keep dogs in her apartment. As such, she can only seek help from volunteers to accommodate her dogs in the evening.

Under Hong Kong Housing Authority Policy, tenants of public housing estates are not allowed to keep dogs inside the premise. Under special circumstances, the Housing Authority will consider granting permissions, such as for tenants with a visual or audio disability to keep a guide dog, or for those in need of mental support with medical support from medical professionals to keep a companion dog. Those who keep animals without prior written consent will face a deduction of points under the Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement, which may lead to termination in the tenancy. In 2019, there were 400 point-allotment cases for "Keeping animal, bird or livestock inside leased premises without prior written consent of the Landlord".

The Marking Scheme was implemented in 2003 to strengthen control against hygiene-related misconduct in response to the outbreak of SARS. The Temporary Permission Rule (“TPR”) was introduced as a follow up to the Marking Scheme, which allowed tenants to continue to keep their small dogs (i.e less than 20kg in weight) after registration with the Housing Department and obtaining approval, and if they were already kept inside the premise before 1 August 2003. The number of TPR dogs has reduced from around 13,300 in 2003 to 1,600 in 2016, and was less than 300 by the end of 2019.

Courtesy of Jamia Lam

Main resource: Skypost