We hope to raise awareness in relation to local and international animal law and welfare by presenting the latest news stories and articles from around the world. Sign up to our newsletter to keep informed about the latest news.
A Belgian ban on kosher and halal slaughter of animals without being stunned has been backed by the European Court of Justice, which rejected objections by religious groups.
The European Court said all member states had to reconcile both animal welfare and freedom of religion and EU law did not prevent countries from requiring the stunning of animals as long as they respected fundamental rights.
Read MoreA building firm that carried out demolition work at a site known to be inhabited by bats has been handed a £600,000 fine, the largest ever issued by a Court for a wildlife crime.
Read MoreA Chinese national is in federal custody in New Jersey after investigations said he financed an international smuggling ring that shipped more than 1,500 endangered turtles from the United States to China and Hong Kong, valued at more than US$2.2million (approximately HK$17million).
The turtles, many of which were bound by duct tape, stuffed into socks and shipped in mislabelled packages, were sold for as much as US$20,000 (approximately HK$155,000) each on the Asian pet black market, authorities have said.
Read MoreRecently, there has been a sudden spike in cases involving cruelty to birds in Hong Kong, with most of the animals suffering severe injuries as a result of the serious violence inflicted. It is important to remember that all animals are deserving of protection and that if you see animals being abused, respond by stopping the assailant and inform the Hong Kong Police immediately.
Courtesy of Marco Poon
Read MoreOn 2 December 2020, Hong Kong Customs Officers made their biggest seizure of endangered seahorses in two years finding 75kg of the product valued at HK$1 million. A 63 year old man has since been arrested but released on bail.
This year alone, Customs Officers have confiscated HK$149 million worth of endangered species, 12 per cent more than the value seized in 2019. But the total number of cases has dropped from 659 in 2019 to only 250 in 2020. This indicates that although the frequency of trafficking in endangered species has reduced, the quantity per shipment has severely increased - likely to be a result of traffickers needing to move their products creatively and in bulk due to travel restrictions.
Read MoreA recent study conducted by World Animal Protection has discovered that over 3 million live wild animals were imported into the UK between 2014 and 2018 from over 90 countries to be sold as exotic pets, including animals from tropical regions identified as emerging disease hotspots.
It is believed that around 70% of all zoonotic emerging infectious diseases have originated from wild animals, and over 35 infectious diseases have emerged in humans since 1982, including Ebola, MERS and SARS.
Courtesy of Nicole Liang.
Read MoreOn 1 December 2020, a former vegetable stall owner was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to one count of blackmail at the West Kowloon Magistracy (Case Number: WKCC 3089/2020), after he had threatened to chop up the a stolen poodle if the owner did not pay a HK$40,000 ransom.
Courtesy of Louis Cheung.
Read MoreRecently, there have been a number reports related to injuries inflicted on wild cows and buffaloes on Lantau Island. The Hong Kong Police continue to investigate the matter, and have since classified the offending as animal cruelty.
Sadly news of cows on Lantau being injured and killed is not uncommon, and the recent incidents are a timely reminder that cruelty extends to all animals and more needs to be done In Hong Kong to protect their welfare.
Read MoreOn 26 November 2020, the Hong Kong Police arrested a 77 year old woman and recovered a kitten which was allegedly stolen from a Yau Ma Tei wholesale fruit market shop nine days ago.
The two month old kitten was found in a 30cm x 30cm crate along with two parrots, inside the flat which was in an extremely unhygienic state, with leftover food and several rat cages littered on the floor.
Courtesy of Marco Poon.
Read MoreRare pink dolphins are returning to Hong Kong waters and staying longer due to decreased levels of pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts have attributed the rising numbers are due to reduced sea traffic and a more hospitable marine environment, but warn that the situation can reverse quickly once lockdown measures are removed.
Courtesy of Arial Ng.
Read MoreIndonesian police uncovered dozens of rare live Black-capped Lorries, a type of rare parrot, alongside 10 other dead birds, stuffed in plastic bottles onboard a dock ship in Papua, Indonesia.
Over the years, wildlife traffickers have become increasingly creative with a plethora of methods in concealing and smuggling of wildlife across borders including in drainpipes, baskets and even in their underwear.
Courtesy of Amelia Wang.
Read MoreOn 9 November, the Hong Kong Customs and Excise department seized 1.9 tonnes of dried shark fins (valued at HK$1.4 million) believed to have been cut from endangered shark species in a container arriving in Hong Kong from Indonesia.
In related news, Florida became the 15th state in the Unites States to ban the shark fin trade. The Kristin Jacobs Ocean Conservation Act (SB680) recently signed into law, means a ban for shipping shark fins across state borders as well as the import or shipping of international fins through Florida, but still allows local fishermen to continue fishing.
Courtesy of Daphne Ng.
Read MoreThis case arose from a sale by receivers of a commercial fishery in Lancashire which belonged to the Respondents. The fishery included nine gravel lakes which stocks of fish were kept for angling. The sale documentation did not make express reference to the fish stocks. The Respondent claimed that it retained ‘ownership’ of the fish and brought a conversion claim.
The case required the Court of Appeal to analyse the nature and extent of the proprietary rights in the live fish. The Court noted that the point before it had never had to be decided in a reported case, and the judgments include a detailed consideration of authorities from England, Ireland, Canada and the US, principles of Roman Law and the commentaries of Bracton, Grotius and Blackstone.
A new report has found that pangolin scales are still being used in medicines sold and produced by Chinese companies, despite the Chinese government banning pangolin scales from the official list of approved ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and giving three species of the pangolin the highest level of national protection back in June.
Courtesy of Amelia Wang.
Read MoreHong Kong continues to be a wildlife smuggling hub, with organised criminal networks exploiting gaps in the city’s laws. But that may soon change after DAB lawmaker Elizabeth Quat announced her plans to introduce a private member's bill to the Legislative Council, in a bid to give local authorities more power to clamp down on the illegal wildlife trade.
Courtesy of Arial Ng.
Read MoreLearn more about Pet-Nups, a niche and evolving trend in animal welfare, which acts similarly to a pre-nuptial agreement. These have been recently introduced in the UK in an attempt to lessen the heartache of a divorce proceeding and, to more pertinently, ensure a pet’s welfare post-divorce.
Courtesy of Daphne Ng.
Read MoreThree Chinese internet companies have joined the fight to combat against the illegal wildlife trade. The pledge is part of a mission to raise awareness for online wildlife crimes by developing new technology to counter the sale of wildlife via the internet.
Courtesy of Arial Ng.
Read MoreVolunteers have worked tirelessly overnight to ensure that hundreds of animals that were housed in an animal centre in Yuen Long were transported to safety away from a nearby fire that was spreading uncontrollably.
This incident demonstrates just how important both animals and animal welfare are to members of the Hong Kong community, and why we must continue to advocate for better and more robust animal protection laws in Hong Kong.
Courtesy of Marco Poon.
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Hong Kong is at the epicentre of the global trade in shark fin, contributing to a more than 40% of the world’s shark fin imports annually. The unsustainable demand for shark fin soup remains a primary driver for the overfishing of sharks and rays on a global sale. Between 2014 - 2019, Hong Kong Customs made 59 shark fin seizures totalling 12,238kg, with 28 cases in 2019. Only 5 cases were prosecuted in that period.
However, no wildlife traffickers have ever been prosecuted in Hong Kong for money laundering related offences and no syndicates indicted for wildlife smuggling, although the city is a wildlife trading hub. The government has continued to fail to recognise wildlife crimes as specified offences under the Organised and Serious Crimes Ordinance (Cap 455). Doing so would would provide greater investigatory powers in order to combat Hong Kong’s increasingly serious wildlife trafficking problem.
Courtesy of Christopher Jay.
Read MoreJapan’s famed Nara deer have been considered national treasures for decades. But the recent pandemic has led to a drastic decrease in tourists visiting Nara Park, which has meant that the deer have not only had to revert to their normal food source instead of the nutrient packed rice crackers, but are now roaming further away from the park in search of something similar.
Courtesy of Daphne Ng.
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