Coronavirus: Hong Kong health minister dismisses concerns over toughened law for pet owners who refuse to give up animals for disease-control purposes
- Sophia Chan says aim of amendment is to control disease should evidence exist suggesting animal-to-human transmission has taken place
- Under revised law, owners who refuse order face fines of up to HK$10,000 and six months’ jail
Hong Kong’s health minister has dismissed concerns over a toughened law that jails pet owners who refuse to surrender their animals for disease-control purposes.
But Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee admitted on Saturday that the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) should more clearly explain the amendment to the law that gives health officers the power to demand owners hand over the animals.
When asked on a radio programme about concerns that authorities would also order infected owners to surrender their pets, Chan said the aim of the amendment was to control disease should evidence exist suggesting animal-to-human transmission had taken place.
“You don’t have to worry too much, because even if we have coronavirus disease, the AFCD takes good care of pets like cats and dogs. Whether it is isolation measures or the overall situation of the amendment, the AFCD may need to make it clearer,” Chan told a radio programme.
The revised Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance specifies that pet owners who refuse the order face a maximum HK$10,000 (US$1,275) fine and six months’ jail.
The amendment, which came into effect on March 31, has alarmed some animal rights activists after it was revealed on April 6 in a written response from Chan to lawmaker Cheung Kwok-kwan, who raised questions about authorities’ lack of power to ask owners to surrender their pets during an outbreak of the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
The outbreak in January, which authorities believed originated with hamsters, prompted the government to cull over 2,000 pets found at shops and storage houses.
Officials asked residents to surrender any pet hamsters imported in the same batches as ones found infected with the virus. But some animal rights activists questioned the cull and intercepted some owners outside the AFCD collection centre and took possession of their hamsters.
Respiratory expert Dr Leung Chi-chiu noted that most types of pets presented a low risk of spreading Covid-19.
Hamsters behind Hong Kong Delta variant outbreak, study finds
“But this amendment is necessary to prepare for future outbreaks caused by other animals. If we do not have a legal framework to deal with these animals, we may not be able to stop the spread of Covid-19 fast enough,” the expert said.
But Linda Tse Hiu-mui, founder of the Hong Kong Saving Cat and Dog Association, was concerned that the AFCD’s new powers would lead pet owners to abandon the animals instead of surrendering them.
“Owners may not be willing to forcibly give up their pets,” she said. “It may also cause tragedies as more animals may be abandoned on the streets and consequently be killed in traffic accidents.”
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals stressed that the risk of pets-to-human Covid-19 transmission in general was negligible. The animals were more likely to be infected by their owners and the pets did not play a role in transmitting the virus.
It said residents should find someone able to take care of the animals in case the owners became infected or needed to move into a quarantine centre.
An AFCD spokesman said their New Territories South Animals Management Centre had been designated as a quarantine facility for pet animals related to Covid-19 cases, while the animal-keeping facility at the Hong Kong Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge was devoted to quarantine and veterinary monitoring for animals that tested positive for the coronavirus.
