For immediate release
2007.04.29

[ Chinese version
& media reports ]

AFCD reprimanded for animal abuse and breach of duty.
Black box operation must stop.

Recent decisions and actions taken by the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department have caused large number of animals being abused and brutally killed. The Department turned a deaf ear to groups and individuals who expressed concerns on these incidents, grossly avoiding its responsibilities. In some instances, AFCD imposed retaliatory measures. The Hong Kong Alley Cat Watch, Lantau Post, and Animal Earth issued a severe reprimand to the AFCD for these acts. Civic Party Chief Ms Audrey Eu and representative Ms Linda Wong were also present at the announcement.

Some recent cases of mistreatment, abuse, and brutal killing of animals by AFCD are outlined as follows:

(1) October 2006 to date – Large number of stray buffalos and cows were traumatized and terrified to death in a series of culling operations done by AFCD in the name of community interests and development. A case also involved huge proportion of deaths while buffalos were being transported by AFCD personnel. AFCD only try to fend off the public's inquiry.

(2) March 2007 – Large number of monkeys were found severely injured in Kam Shan Country Park, some being obvious human acts. After months of follow-up by citizens, the AFCD gave no reasonable answer and took no concrete action. Upon the matter being uncovered by the media, AFCD rushed to summon the press only to give ridiculous and contradictory information, in an effort to cover up rather than deal with the safety and well being of the monkey.

(3) February to April 2007 – AFCD mistreatment of animals in their Animals Management Centers causing suffering and death of numerous dogs were uncovered by the press. The AFCD responded by shunning voluntary organizations who used to save stray animals from the AMCs for adoption. This took away the chance of many animals being saved. When the news caused public outrage, AFCD issued misleading statistics and misrepresented photographs, at the same time smearing stray animals and volunteers who take care of them, in an attempt to sidetrack focus.

(4) March 2007 – Brutal killing of pigs in AFCD's New Territories North AMC was uncovered by the NEXT Magazine. Screens were immediately erected at the periphery of the Center to stop further public exposure. Both York Chow (Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food) and AFCD officials put up "international recognition" to shrug off responsibility and mislead the public. Despite the matter raising international outrage from more than 800 cities in over 60 countries, the government openly refused investigation in LEGCO hearing.

While the government has been appealing to the public for kinder treatment of animals, it is taking a swift lead to abusing and brutalizing animals. The incidents showed the government is grossly uninformed about animal rights protection, downplaying the suffering of the less-privileged, and taking an antagonistic posture towards activists. The red tape has severely and systematically caused widespread suffering of animals.

The public has been catching on with caring for animals and respecting their lives. To build a true city of harmony and respect, what remains is the change of mindset of policy makers and government personnel.

To protect the basic right of animals to a dignified existence, we urge the AFCD to institute the following measures to improve and overhaul their entire operation:

(1) Immediately open up all black box operations and facilities for public access and inspection, thereby returning the rights and obligation of monitoring to the hands of citizens

(2) Conduct complete review and consultation on the standards and procedures involved in caring, management, destruction of all stray and non-stray animals, maintaining due care and attention to the mental and physical well-being of animals.

(3) Institute transparency for montoring and assurance purposes to ensure procedures and guidelines are followed by frontline personnel.

(4) Re-educate both decision-making and frontline personnel, realigning their mindset with the proper knowledge in the needs of animals, giving them ability to deal appropriately with contingencies involving animals.

(5) Maintain open attitude in frontline and decision-making personnel, when communicating and collaborating with non-government organizations and volunteers to avoid compromising the rights of animals.

(6) Seek to actively communicate ideas of cohabitation between human and other animals. Abandon the practice and culture of reacting to complaints for the sake of closing cases, thereby saving animals from unjustified complaints.

(7) Revise the outdated list of protected animal species. Establish the status all animals (including strays) as valued part of the community and ecosystem, striking a better balance between human interest and animal living space.

(8) Regularly reviewing policies and implementation for the sake of continuous improvement, realizing true "Conservation".

[ Chinese version
& media reports ]