Hong Kong police investigating after ‘slashed open’ dead cat found in Kwai Chung park
- Officers probing possible foul play after discovery of domestic short-haired’s body on a Kwai Chung estate
- Cat’s abdomen ‘appeared to have been slashed open’, police spokesman said
The discovery of a dead cat with what appeared to be a slash wound to its stomach has triggered a Hong Kong police investigation into whether foul play was involved.
Officers were called to Kwai Shing West Estate, off Kwai Shing Circuit in Kwai Chung, shortly after 7.30am on Thursday, when the carcass was found.
“The cat’s abdomen appeared to have been slashed open,” a police spokesman said.
Cages holding carcasses of dog, two cats washes up on Hong Kong beach
The spokesman said a vet from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department was also brought in to inspect the body, which was found in a park outside residential block 10 of the estate.
Crime squad officers have checked CCTV footage in the area to gather evidence. Detectives from the Kwai Tsing criminal investigation unit are handling the case.
The female cat was a domestic short-haired adult with no identification microchip.
The body was collected by staff from the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and will be handed to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department for a necropsy.
It came a couple of days after two cages containing the carcasses of a dog and two cats were found on Tuesday washed ashore on a rocky Lantau Island beach.
That gruesome discovery recalls the finding of 15 cat and dog carcasses on the city’s beaches in August. Local law enforcers at the time said the animals might have been thrown overboard by smugglers who were being pursued.
According to official statistics, local authorities received 150 suspected animal cruelty cases in the first half of this year. There were 288 such reports over the entirety of 2019 and 368 cases the year before.
Between January and June 2020, there were five such prosecutions, compared with 29 in the whole of last year and 27 in 2018.
‘Not enough evidence’ for suspected Hong Kong animal killers to be prosecuted
Dr Chui Tak-yi, the acting secretary for food and health, told lawmaker Elizabeth Quat in a written reply on Wednesday that most of the cases were nuisance related rather than incidents of animal cruelty.
“Upon receiving reports of suspected animal cruelty cases, the police force or the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department will conduct an investigation. Prosecution will be initiated if there is sufficient evidence,” he said.
In Hong Kong, cruelty to animals carries a maximum penalty of three years in jail and a HK$200,000 (US$25,792) fine.
