“Siu Kat never really left the flat before the age of one as I dared not take the risk of him being found,” the driver in his 30s said.

“Hong Kong is not a friendly place for animals. But I do not want to give my dog up.”

He said he taught the dog to use the toilet in the 400-square-foot flat, where he has been living for almost 30 years.

The dog was given to him by a friend and he decided to keep him with his girlfriend, but the couple broke up a few months ago, meaning he is left alone for 12 hours a day when Kelvin goes to work.

Some dog owners in public housing may go much further by muting their dog through surgery or putting an electric belt on the animal’s neck to give a shock if it barks, he said.

But Siu Kat rarely barks, he said, and does not have another dog companion to play with, so instead appears shaky and easily unnerved by strangers or noise. He sometimes puts him inside an iron cage if he barks or misbehaves.

He said Siu Kat had only been smuggled out of the estate once for vaccination before he was one. He said he had to cover him up with towels and leave through the back entrance.

The dog was terrified throughout the process and appeared perplexed when he saw the sky for the first time and trembled throughout the journey, Kelvin recalled.

Even then, he could not take his animal on public transport. Hong Kong, often criticised for having an inadequate approach to animal welfare, bans pooches on all forms of public transport except ferries and rarely allows them in restaurants.

“Even if I manage to bring Siu Kat outside the flat, dogs are not allowed in most places and on public transport,” Kelvin said.

“I know Siu Kat is too lonely and is getting big. I try my best to take him to the Tseung Kwan O dog park every weekend by taxi so he can have some fun.”

Hong Kong’s limited space, with the fourth highest population density in the world according to the World Bank, also presents a problem for dog owners.

And many Hongkongers, particularly the estimated 1.3 million people who live in poverty, find it difficult to afford a pet because of the high cost of living in the city, which regularly sees it ranked as one of the five most expensive in the world.

According to the 2011 census, households with higher median monthly incomes were more likely to own dogs, with the median monthly income for dog-owning families being HK$25,100.

Fiona Woodhouse, deputy director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said she thought the ban on keeping pets in public housing should be scrapped, as it was unfair and outdated.

“It is getting better here but we are really behind it in terms of efficiency,” she said. “They should be reversing the public housing rule. We are basing that rule on the 1950s.”

The Housing Authority, which runs public housing estates, did not return calls on the issue.

Many private estates also do not allow dog ownership. 

Dog owner Oliver Giles, a 24-year-old journalist who lives in private housing on Lantau with his pooch Sushi, said he thought the city, and particularly Hong Kong Island, could be a difficult place to own a dog.

“I think I have it much easier out on Lantau,” he said. “I can walk from my house straight into the country park, where I can walk Sushi either on or off the lead. The beach is also just a couple of minutes walk away. I think that if you live on Hong Kong Island you have to make the extra effort to make sure your dog is getting enough exercise.”

He said he thought Hongkongers should think carefully before choosing to take on the responsibility of a dog.

“Plenty of dogs in Hong Kong are bought or adopted when they’re adorable puppies and then abandoned as they get bigger or become destructive due to lack of attention or exercise,” he said.

“Rescue centres in Hong Kong are full of unwanted dogs that have been adopted on a whim.”

Campaigners have also raised concerns that it is too easy for families to get rid of their dogs if they become unmanageable. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) provides a chauffeur-driven service to take away unwanted dogs before putting them up for adoption through one of its partner animal welfare organisations.

Of the 249,400 households keeping dogs or cats in 2011, 11,200 households said they had considered not keeping their pets because the animals had become too old or sick. The survey revealed the most common way for people to abandon their pets was to give them to friends or relatives.

Jacqui Green, founder of animal welfare group Protection of Animals Lantau South, said that as pet ownership increased, so did pet abandonment, but AFCD statistics suggest otherwise because charities are intervening to provide temporary homes.

“I do not think it is getting more difficult to keep a pet here, but I think people are getting less committed,” she said. “The idea of keeping it as part of your family for the rest of your life is not there any more.”