A major Buddhist monastery on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island has suspended kitchen workers suspected of kidnapping and abandoning two dogs, while a protest against the alleged mistreatment was cancelled at the last minute.
The two dogs have been missing for a week, prompting people to offer rewards for information over the past few days.
In an online post on Tuesday evening, Po Lin Monastery said the staff members involved in the incident had already been suspended and banned from returning to the temple, giving no further details about their identity.
The employees are believed to be the two male kitchen workers arrested by police on Saturday.
The dogs, known as “Dai Mui” and “Sai Mui”, which means “big sister” and “little sister” in Chinese, are brown-and-black mongrels.
An internet user claimed the staff had wrapped the heads of the two female dogs with plastic bags and abandoned them on a back hill last Tuesday.
The monastery said it had immediately dispatched staff to search and put up notices and enlisted local residents’ help, but the dogs had yet to be found.
It also said the case had been handed over to police and that the temple was fully cooperating in investigations, adding it could not comment now.
“The monastery will give a public account after the investigation is completed,” it said.
Meanwhile, an assembly organised by animal rights activists demanding an apology from the monastery and scheduled for Wednesday afternoon was cancelled at the last minute.
The two kitchen workers – a 65-year-old man surnamed Ng and a 46-year-old surnamed Chui – were arrested over suspected animal cruelty. They were released on bail and are required to report to police in the middle of September.
A source familiar with the investigation said the kitchen’s female supervisor had been bitten by one of the dogs, leading to the decision to remove the pair from the monastery.
Many volunteers have launched a search for the two dogs near the monastery, but to no avail, while some have come forward with hefty rewards for the missing dogs.
Mary Jean Reimer, an actress turned lawyer, offered HK$100,000 (US$12,830) on Tuesday as a reward for information on the two dogs.
She is a known whistle-blower against corruption in Buddhist circles in the city.
Kent Luk Ka-jeep, founder of animal welfare organisation Paws Guardian Rescue Shelter, offered HK$100,000 of his personal funds on Monday to anyone who could supply information leading to the two dogs’ whereabouts.
