Three newborn kittens found dead with legs bound by rope among abandoned litter of five in Hong Kong village
- One of the two surviving cats died later at SPCA headquarters
- Animal cruelty case is second in a week in city, with earlier incident involving poisoned dogs
Three newborn kittens were found dead with their legs bound by rope at a refuse collection point in a northern Hong Kong village on Friday, prompting a police investigation into animal cruelty.
The trio were among a litter of five abandoned on Shek Tong Tsuen off Yau Shin Street in Yuen Long.
One of the two surviving domestic shorthair cats, which were taken to the Wan Chai headquarters of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) for treatment, later died.
The case, reported by businessman Cheung Chi-yeung, 44, past midnight on Thursday after he heard the squeals of the kittens, was the second local incident of animal cruelty in a week.
Officers are investigating and no arrests have been made.
Cheung found one of the surviving cats attempting to crawl out of a plastic bag at the bottom of a massive rubbish bin.
“Inside the bag, there was another surviving kitten and three dead cats with their legs tied together with rope,” he said, adding that he believed the animals were found less than 12 hours after they were abandoned.
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Cheung, who is an animal-lover and keeps about 20 abandoned dogs at home in the same village, condemned the person behind the case of the kittens. “This gives the animals no chance to live,” he said.
Officers were called in soon after 12.30am when Cheung made an emergency call.
According to police, three dead cats were found at the scene and the two surviving animals were picked up by SPCA staff. Police are treating the case as cruelty to animals.
An SPCA spokeswoman said one of the surviving cats later died at its Wan Chai headquarters.
She said the dead bodies would be sent to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department to determine the cause of death.
It was the second report of animal cruelty in the city this week. On Wednesday, four of seven dogs suspected to have been poisoned died at a house in Tai Po Tin village off Ping Che Road, Ta Kwu Ling. The three surviving dogs were being treated at the SCPA headquarters.
Three months ago, the carcasses of least 10 dogs and cats in various stages of decay were found in an animal shelter in the same district.
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Officers also discovered nearly 100 malnourished animals in the shelter. Police arrested a 62-year-old man in charge of the site for animal cruelty.
A spate of dog deaths last year led to more than 50,000 people petitioning the government to crack down on animal cruelty.
At least nine dogs suspected to have been poisoned died in Tai Po and Fanling in a week in April last year. Six among the group died after their owners walked them at Wah Ming Estate in Fanling.
In Hong Kong, cruelty to animals carries a maximum penalty of three years in jail and a fine of up to HK$200,000 (US$25,600).
