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Following is a question by the Hon Alice Mak Mei-kuen and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (November 20):
Question:
Since its cessation of public cremation service for animals in 1999, the Government disposes of animal carcasses collected only by sending them to landfills. Members of the public who need hospice or cremation service for pets can only patronise private companies which provide such service (hospice service companies), resulting in continuous increase in the number of such companies in recent years. However, some members of the public have pointed out that as the Government does not regulate such kind of companies, the rights and interests of consumers lack protection and the cremation service concerned often causes environmental hygiene problems which affect residents in the neighbourhood. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of animal carcasses collected by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by animal type;
(b) whether it knows the number of hospice service companies in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by building type of the premises where cremation service is provided;
(c) of the number of complaints relating to hospice service companies received by the authorities in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by the content of such complaints (including the business practices, quality of service, and environmental hygiene problems caused by cremation service etc.);
(d) whether the authorities had conducted inspections in the past five years to check if hospice service companies and the premises where cremation service was provided had contravened legislation on fire safety, land use or environmental hygiene, etc.; if they had, of the number of inspections conducted each year, with a breakdown of the contravention cases;
(e) whether the authorities will consider afresh regulating hospice service companies by means of licensing; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; how the authorities will effectively address environmental hygiene problems caused by cremation service for pets; and
(f) whether the authorities will consider afresh resuming the provision of cremation service for animals; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
At present, the relevant government departments may, according to their respective mandates, inspect premises of pet hospice services to check compliance with pertinent legislation and requirements, including the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311), the Fire Services Ordinance (Cap. 95), the Dangerous Goods Ordinance (Cap. 295), the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123) and the land leases, etc.
Upon receipt of complaints about sanitary nuisance emanating from premises providing pet hospice services, staff of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) will inspect the premises concerned and, where necessary, take enforcement actions under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132). For complaints about black smoke or odour emitted in the process of cremating pet carcasses, the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) will carry out inspections and take enforcement actions according to the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311) as necessary. Inspections and enforcement actions as required may also be carried out by the Fire Services Department (FSD) and the Buildings Department (BD) pursuant to the Fire Services Ordinance (Cap. 95), the Dangerous Goods Ordinance (Cap. 295) and the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123) respectively. For substantiated complaints about breaches of lease conditions, the Lands Department (LandsD) will take appropriate lease enforcement actions. Furthermore, under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362), it is an offence for traders to deploy specified unfair trade practices against consumers, including false trade descriptions to services for supply to consumers.
My reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Member is set out below.
(a) The numbers of animal carcasses collected by FEHD from its refuse collection points between 2009 and October 2013 are shown in Annex 1.
(b) According to information available to the Administration, over ten operators are now providing pet hospice services in the local market. Most of them operate in industrial buildings, and some in commercial buildings or the rural areas. We do not keep information about changes to the number of operators over the past five years.
(c) The numbers of complaints received by EPD, FEHD, LandsD, FSD and the Consumer Council (CC) related to pet hospice services between January 2009 and October 2013 are shown in Annex 2.
(d) The number of inspections conducted by EPD, FEHD, LandsD, FSD and BD on premises related to pet hospice services between January 2009 and October 2013 is shown in Annex 3.
(e) and (f) As in other trades, operators of pet hospice services have to comply with the relevant legislation and lease conditions. We are of the view that the existing legislation [including the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311), the Fire Services Ordinance (Cap. 95), the Dangerous Goods Ordinance (Cap. 295), the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123) and the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362)] is adequate for regulating issues of air pollution, public health, consumer protection, etc. that may arise from the operation of pet hospice services. The Administration has no plan to set up a separate licensing system.
In general, pet carcasses are not regarded as clinical waste. Provided that basic personal hygiene measures are taken, the risk of disease transmission through pet carcasses is very low. Infectious diseases of pets that are of serious concern to public health are uncommon. For disposal of pet carcasses by FEHD, pet owners or the relevant organisations should wrap up the pet carcasses properly in bags and deliver them to the refuse collection points managed by FEHD. The pet carcasses will be safely disposed of as with other municipal solid waste at landfills, which are well designed in engineering terms to guard against ground water and other contamination. We consider such practices acceptable from the perspective of public health. Therefore, the Administration has no plan to introduce public cremation services for pets.
Ends/Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Issued at HKT 17:43
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