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Following is a question by the Hon Gary Fan and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (January 22):
Question:
According to the Government's reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council last year, among the animals received or caught by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) in each of the past three years, over 8 000 were euthanised (around 60%) and only 7% to 8% re-homed. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of a breakdown, by the breed of the animals (such as mongrel, British shorthair, lop-eared rabbit, etc.), of the number of animals euthanised by AFCD in each of the past three years;
(2) of the respective expenditures incurred by AFCD on taking care of the animals received or caught, as well as promoting re-homing of such animals in each of the past three years (including venue rentals and advertising fees);
(3) of the voluntary animal welfare groups which have entered into partnership with AFCD for the provision of animal re-homing service at present;
(4) of the existing criteria adopted by AFCD for determining which animal welfare groups to be chosen as partners in the provision of animal re-homing service, evaluating the effectiveness of collaboration and deciding whether collaboration with such groups will continue;
(5) of the number of activities conducted by AFCD to promote animal re-homing in the past three years, as well as the details of each activity, including the (i) date, (ii) name, (iii) form, (iv) organiser and supporting organisations, (v) number of animals involved, and (vi) number of the animals re-homed (set out in Table 1);
(6) whether AFCD conducted promotional activities in the past three years in collaboration with individual pet shops to promote animal re-homing; if so, of the details of each activity, including the (i) date, (ii) name, (iii) form, (iv) organiser and supporting organisations, (v) number of animals involved, and (vi) number of animals re-homed (set out in Table 2); if not, the reasons for that; and
(7) given the space and resource constraints of the Animal Management Centres under AFCD, whether AFCD will, by making reference to the "Foster Parent Programme" of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, consider introducing a Foster Family Programme so that animals are given more time, and hence more chances, to get re-homed by members of the public; if it will, of the details and timetable of the programme; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
On the re-homing of animals, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has all along been working in close collaboration with animal welfare organisations and lending support where appropriate, including offering free neutering services to cats and dogs suitable for re-homing. Through the concerted efforts of all parties, the number of cats and dogs euthanised in recent years has been declining.
My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(a) Annex 3 gives the number of dogs, cats and other animals euthanised in the past three years. The AFCD does not keep a breakdown by the breed of the animals.
(b) Annex 4 gives the expenditure incurred by the AFCD in receiving and catching animals as well as promoting animal re-homing in the past three years.
(c) At present, the AFCD is partnering with a total of 12 animal welfare organisations in arranging re-homing for animals abandoned or surrendered. These organisations include the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong), Society for Abandoned Animals, Hong Kong Dog Rescue, Hong Kong Rabbit Society, Hong Kong Society of Herpetology Foundation, Hong Kong Alley Cat Watch, Lifelong Animal Protection Charity, HK Rescue Puppies, Lamma Animal Welfare Centre, Protection of Animals Lantau South, Sai Kung Stray Friends, and Asian and Hong Kong Dachshund Society.
(d) The AFCD considers a number of factors before deciding whether to cooperate with an organisation in arranging re-homing for stray animals caught, including the scale of the organisation's facilities, its experience and past records in animal keeping, performance in providing re-homing services (especially in areas including the vetting procedures, documentation and taking follow-up actions in re-homing cases), and whether the re-homing projects are non-profit-making in nature. The AFCD keeps the status of the organisations under regular review for determining whether to continue the co-operation.
(e) The re-homing activities organised by the AFCD over the past three years together with relevant related information are set out at Annex 5. Apart from these re-homing activities, the AFCD also organises various kinds of promotional activities every year, such as seminars at schools and public housing estates, roving exhibitions in different venues (including MTR stations) and joint educational programmes with other organisations, with a view to promoting care for animals, adoption of animals and responsible pet ownership.
(f) The AFCD has not co-organised with individual pet shops activities for promoting re-homing. The main purpose of promoting animal re-homing is to find a second home for stray animals or abandoned animals which are healthy and of a mild temperament so that they can be taken care of again. The AFCD considers it more appropriate to partner with non-profit-making animal welfare organisations in this regard.
(g) For any mode of re-homing service (including fostering service), it is necessary to assess the suitability of a prospective adopter, the living environment available for animal adoption, and to take follow-up actions to see if the adopter is taking proper care of the animal. The AFCD considers it more appropriate for non-profit-making animal welfare organisations which are armed with the relevant experience and adopter network to provide such services.
Ends/Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Issued at HKT 19:10
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