In U-turn, Hong Kong prison allows stray cats to stay
Officers at Tong Fuk Correctional Institution were earlier told to remove dozens of animals as they ‘led to arguments between inmates’
Dozens of stray cats will be allowed to stay in a Hong Kong prison they have called home for almost a decade in a surprise U-turn by the city’s correctional authorities after they earlier said the felines would have to go.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) confirmed that they had come to an agreement after a meeting with officers from Tong Fuk Correctional Institution on Friday morning.
“The cats will remain at the facility, the SPCA will continue trying to rehouse the friendlier cats and they will send a vehicle for a large-scale neutering operation,” a society spokeswoman said.
A senior superintendent who arrived in recent months was said to have threatened to expel the dozens of cats “as far as possible”, despite pleas from a number of lower-grade officers to allow them to continue sheltering the animals.
Located near the village of Tong Fuk in southern Lantau, the medium-security facility for adult male prisoners is surrounded by forests and animal sightings are common.