Anthony Leung
SPCA Chief Inspector Anthony Leung has worked with the organization for more than 10 years. He talks to Lindsay Varty about his oddest experiences helping the city’s animals.
HK Magazine: What do you do every day as an inspector at the SPCA?
Anthony Leung: I go out and rescue sick, abandoned or stray animals from dangerous places. I drive my vehicle out and pick them up, then bring them back to the SPCA for a check-up. Sometimes it’s cats that have wandered out onto a balcony and are stuck on top of air conditioners, or it can be stray dogs that have gotten caught in a fence. There are many different cases.
HK: What kind of animals do you rescue?
AL: Mainly dogs, cats, rabbits, chinchillas, birds and hamsters, but the laws in Hong Kong recognize animals as “any living creatures,” vertebrate and invertebrate, so our inspectors’ scope is broad. Sometimes we rescue abandoned pets and stray animals in the street, but we also rescue wild animals such as cattle, wild birds and even porcupines.
HK: Hong Kong has porcupines?
AL: Yes, sure—sometimes we find them in Stanley or Shek O, in the woodlands. Sometimes they get hit by cars along the road, or get stuck in river channels. They’re quite big!
HK: Is a porcupine the strangest animal you’ve had to rescue?
AL: No, I’ve also rescued a water monitor [a kind of lizard]. One day, I received a call that someone had found a big reptile by the side of the road on a highway in Tsuen Wan, and I went there to find a big water monitor. But these are not common in Hong Kong, so I think this was an illegally imported reptile that had escaped from someone’s home.
HK: So what happens to these illegal pets if you find them?
AL: Either the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department takes care of them, or we send them to Kadoorie Farm. [Reporter’s note: mid-interview, Leung is alerted that a stray puppy is caught in a fence in a Wong Tai Sin parking lot—he takes us with him to witness the rescue.]