Elderly man arrested after being caught on camera plucking a pigeon outside a Hong Kong housing estate
- Police source says the man, 94, maintained the pigeon was dead when he found it
- Separately, police have arrested another man, aged 70, for allegedly throwing stones at a pigeon outside a different housing estate
Police on Wednesday arrested a 94-year-old man on suspicion of animal cruelty after he was captured in a now-viral video plucking a pigeon at a public housing estate in Hong Kong.
The online video shows the man, who is wearing a hat and seated beside a flower bed, holding the pigeon in his left hand and pulling out its feathers with his right near Sau Yuen House at Chuk Yuen South Estate in Wong Tai Sin on Tuesday evening. It’s unclear from the footage whether the pigeon was alive or dead, though it does not appear to be moving at the beginning of the video.
Police were called in at about 6.15pm on Tuesday after receiving a report from a security guard who was notified of the situation by a passer-by.
According to the force, the elderly man had put the pigeon in a plastic bag and left the scene before officers arrived.
After checking security camera footage to gather evidence, police identified the suspect as one of the residents in the estate, and shortly after 2pm on Wednesday, the man was taken into police custody at his home in Chui Yuen House at the same estate.
Police arrested the man on suspicion of animal cruelty – an offence that carries a maximum penalty of three years in jail and a fine of up to HK$200,000 (US$26,000).
