Elderly women arrested for stealing kitten.
On 26 November 2020, the Hong Kong Police Force arrested a 77-year-old woman for stealing a kitten from a shop at the Yau Ma Tei wholesale fruit market. Luckily, the kitten was later found and recovered.
On 18 November, a member of the public reported that his kitten had gone missing at the local fruit market where he kept it. After further investigations and through the use of nearby CCTV, it was discovered that the day before, an elderly woman had grabbed the kitten from the store and placed it into her trolley. She was then seen to pull her trolley containing the kitten back to her home.
The woman was arrested on suspicion of burglary and cruelty to animals in her flat situated some 300 metres from the fruit market. When the Police entered her flat, the two-month-old kitten was found in a 30cm-by-30cm crate. Chief Inspector Yeung San-pong of the Yau Tsim criminal investigation unit commented that This the crate was a relatively small space for the animal and that: -
“ an initial examination by officers from the SPCA shows the kitten is healthy.”
Two parrots were also found in cage son the above premises, subject to a possibility of being abused.
Chief Inspector Yeung also disclosed that the hygiene condition inside the flat was “very poor” with leftover food and cages for catching rats all over the floor. The Chief Inspector did not rule out the possibility that there were rats in the flat, and the reason behind the theft of the kitten was in order to scare the rats away.
Currently, the kitten and the two parrots are under the experienced care and safety of the Wan Chai SPCA with vets carrying out further health checks.
According to section 3 of Cap. 169 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance, animal cruelty to animals carries a maximum penalty of three years in jail and a HK$200,000 fine. For burglary, section 11(4) of Cap. 210 Theft Ordinance stated that “any person who commits burglary shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction upon indictment to imprisonment for 14 years.”
Courtesy of Marco Poon
Sources: Apple Daily, SCMP