A surge in stray and abandoned dogs in the past six months in new development areas of Hong Kong’s New Territories has prompted lawmakers and animal welfare advocates to call for more support for displaced animals.
They urged the authorities to set up animal shelters to house animals left behind by their owners who relocated, relax rules for residents to keep pets in rehousing flats as well as offer more aid to animal protection groups.
Lawmaker Edward Lau Kwok-fan, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), said on Saturday that conditions had worsened in development areas of Kwu Tung North, Fanling North and Hung Shui Kiu.
He said the animals were left behind by their owners who moved to public flats or emigrated, while land resumption had also forced warehouses and garages to close, leaving dogs previously used as guard animals at the sites abandoned.
“Many animal protection volunteers who are active in the New Territories North have reported to us that the number of stray or abandoned dogs has increased significantly over the recent half a year compared with the previous year,” he said.
“Moving to public housing, land resumption and emigration have become the main reasons given by dog owners for abandoning their pets,” he added.
Kent Luk Ka-jeep, a volunteer of the Paws Guardian Rescue Shelter, said his group received an influx of calls for help with abandoned animals in Yuen Long and Hung Shui Kiu, with many owners forced to leave behind their pets after they relocated to public estates.
The rescue group received three to four cases of abandoned animals a week over the past half a year, compared with three to four cases a month previously, he said.
He added that his group had already reached its full capacity in handling the animals, with a total of more than 90 dogs and about 100 cats at its Yuen Long shelter and two other centres.
He noted the few avenues for handling these pets through either animal volunteers or groups.
“This serious problem has long existed, but we have received so many cases recently because of land resumption for development,” he said. “There is no mechanism or department that takes care of this matter.”
He urged the authorities to step up measures to reduce the number of stray animals from the source by performing neutering on them before releasing them.
DAB called on the government to formulate comprehensive schemes to house animals in its planning projects in the northern metropolitan area.
It also urged establishing long-term, large-scale animal shelters in new development sites to support animals and offer them adoption and medical care services.
Authorities should relax regulations to facilitate residents to take their pets with them when moving into rehousing units, DAB added.
The government should also offer more support to animal welfare organisations, and increase penalties on animal abandonment, the alliance said.
