Animal advocate decries 7-year delay on law
A top adviser on animal welfare has hit out at the seven-year delay in amending animal protection laws.
Anthony James, chairman of the Animal Welfare Advisory Group, said the body had been pressing for a revision of the Protection of Animals Ordinance since 1999, when the government asked for its comments to update the law.
'After that initial enlightened action, the revision [of the law] was buried and has been continually buried since then,' said Dr James, who is also director of the Chinese University's Laboratory Animal Services Centre.
He said members of the advisory group had been frustrated by the government's 'consistent stonewalling' of their efforts to have the law amended.
The ordinance, which empowers officers to prosecute offenders who cause unnecessary suffering to animals, was last amended in 1979.
Last month, the government proposed that the maximum fine be increased from $5,000 to $100,000 and the maximum jail sentence from six months to a year. But Dr James said the proposal did not go far enough, and urged the administration to carry out a more comprehensive review to enable the law to keep up with the times.
'It does not take much of an internet search to show that most advanced jurisdictions have revised their animal welfare ordinances in recent times,' he said.
Some countries have revised their laws several times in line with the society's expectations and as people had become more sophisticated and educated on animal welfare, Dr James said. 'A good Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance is not a 'feel good' ordinance but a genuine weapon in protecting us all - animals and humans.'
Dr James said sentences handed down so far did not reflect the gravity of the offence. 'Penalties in Hong Kong for animal cruelty are too low and the lawmakers, police and magistrates are not in tune with the way other similar jurisdictions are treating animal welfare as a serious crime.'
Government figures show that from 2003-05, two people were jailed for less than a month while nine were fined less than $4,000.
Dr James said people should remember that animals suffer and experience pain 'in a manner similar to humans'. This concept was espoused in Hong Kong's code of practice on the care and use of animals for experimental purposes, and in animal welfare legislation in most developed countries.
Dr James said Hong Kong's handling of animal well-being would face international scrutiny when the city hosts the equestrian events for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
