Dog-lovers on Tsuen Wan estate lose legal fight against pet ban

Fourteen current and former residents at the Serenade Cove private housing estate in Tsuen Wan have lost their legal challenge to a stipulation barring them from keeping dogs without permission and a 2008 resolution to take action to remove the pets.

Joseph Chu Wing-hung, who has two dogs, said the group, which had spent HK$400,000 in legal fees, would consider whether to appeal. However, a lawyer said the case was unlikely to set a precedent.

The residents had asked the District Court to declare that the clause in the estate's mutual covenant cannot be forcibly implemented. They also sought to overturn the 2008 decision by the management committee to remove the dogs. The incorporated owners of the estate and the estate's manager, Hong Yip Service, were named as defendants.

The residents said Hong Yip had acted unreasonably by rejecting their applications to own dogs. The court dismissed their case, saying the estate management had not broken any rules.

'None of the plaintiffs have set out a reason for keeping their dogs. They seem to be under the impression that it is for the manager to give the reason for disallowing pets. I am afraid that is not the case,' Deputy District Judge Roy Yu Mun-kee said in his ruling.

Peter Tsang Chi-ming, who won a legal battle against a ban in Mei Foo Sun Chuen on keeping his golden retriever, disagreed with the ruling.