24 pets taken from flat amid safety fears
Two dozen cats and dogs were removed from a flat in Kowloon yesterday after one of the animals was seen perched precariously on an air conditioner frame outside.
Police classified the case as cruelty to animals and are looking for the owner of the Sham Shui Po flat.
A man aged 57 called police at about 2.20pm yesterday, saying he had seen a dog sitting on top of an air conditioner at Ki Fat Mansion, in Ki Lung Street. The animal was tied by a strap to a flat one floor above and was in danger of falling off the air conditioner frame.
Police and firefighters, who forced their way into the 500 sq ft flat after no one answered the door, found 13 dogs, including a Dalmatian, and 10 cats kept in steel cages.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were called to the flat.
The department took the animals to government kennels, and the stranded dog, after being rescued, was also taken there. All the animals were reported to be in reasonable condition.
Neighbours said the animals had been kept in the flat for two years. They said they had filed numerous complaints about the animals' presence to no avail.
They said the owner went to the flat at about midnight every day.
Last month, authorities seized more than 100 animals from a 400 sq ft flat in North Point after neighbours complained of the smell.
The flat owner was arrested a day later and released on HK$2,000 bail.
In November, legislators passed a legal amendment increasing the maximum penalty for cruelty to animals to HK$200,000 and three years' imprisonment.
The previous punishment was a maximum six months' jail and a HK$5,000 fine.
The government has promised a full review of animal welfare regulations by this November.
The move has been welcomed by animal rights groups.
