Decomposing bodies of dogs and cats found at New Territories animal shelter with nearly 100 malnourished animals living amid a ‘sea of urine and faeces’

The carcasses of least 10 dogs and cats – including skeletons and rotting corpses – have been found at a shelter in the New Territories where nearly 100 other animals were living in a “sea of urine and faeces”.

Police arrested a 62-year-old man in charge of the site for animal cruelty on Saturday as inspectors from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) raided the Stray Wonderland animal shelter on Ping Che Road in Ta Kwu Ling.

Sixty-six dogs and 30 cats were found alive at the facility. About half the animals were sent to other shelters for treatment and examination, an SPCA spokeswoman said.

“They were kept in an extremely poor living environment, with not enough water or food, surrounded by a sea of urine and faeces,” the spokeswoman said, adding that the rescued animals looked malnourished and weak.

“There were also at least 10 dead bodies, some of them skeletons and rotting corpses. Some of them were so decomposed we could not even tell what species they were,” she said.

Saturday’s rescue operation was hampered by heavy rain and nightfall, according to the SPCA, but will continue on Sunday. Inspectors left clean water and food for the remaining cats and dogs.

The shelter was described as the size of three basketball courts.

Police received a report at around 10am from a man complaining of a foul smell coming from the premises. He could not contact the person in charge.

Aerial photos and footage taken this week by animal welfare volunteers showed some dogs in cages, while others roamed freely about. The footage showed the site littered with furniture, strewn with rubbish, and with fetid brown water in the feeding bowls.

The raid comes a day after the authorities launched a three-month public consultation on a proposal to strengthen Hong Kong’s animal protection laws. Under the proposed amendments, pet owners could be punished for failing to take care of their animals, such as ensuring they are fed, walked, vaccinated or taken to the animal clinic for illness. Tougher penalties for cruelty to animals were also floated in the proposal.

One of the volunteers at the scene on Saturday during the inspection, said at least a dozen volunteers had put their animals in the shelter. “We were promised at first that we could visit the dogs and take them back and eventually put them up for adoption. But the shelter’s owner started refusing to let us in,” said the volunteer, who gave his name as Herman.

“Once the dogs went in, there was no coming out. I’m glad they can be rescued now,” he said. Democrat lawmaker Roy Kwong Chun-yu said he was “heartbroken” to have witnessed such a scene.

“This is very heartbreaking, especially because the authorities had just announced they would amend animal welfare laws,” Kwong said. “With what has happened today, I believe the AFCD needs to amend the law as soon as possible – that way, rescuers can enter any site when they suspect animals are in danger,” he said.

The SPCA investigated 891 complaints of animal cruelty in 2017-18. It received more than 23,000 calls to its hotline on reports of suspected cruelty or to rescue animals in distress.

There were just 58 prosecutions instigated in the year.

A spate of dog deaths last year led to more than 50,000 people signing a petition urging the government to crack down on animal cruelty with new laws.

At least 13 dogs were poisoned in a week last April, 12 of them fatally. On top of such cases, a 10-year-old Japanese spitz was apparently thrown from the top of a high-rise building. The dog was found dead next to the residential block.

Cruelty to animals is punishable by three years’ imprisonment and a HK$200,000 fine.