All bark and no bite? Hong Kong’s Ombudsman wants dog licensing regime toughened as number of unlicensed, unvaccinated canines soars
- Ombudsman uncovers more than 167,000 unlicensed dogs over past decade, tells Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department to step up oversight
- System designed to prevent rabies flagging due to a lack of inspections, Ombudsman finds, with prosecutions also dropping
Hong Kong authorities must keep a tighter leash on local dog owners, the city’s Ombudsman has recommended, after finding more than 167,000 canines were unlicensed and unvaccinated over the past decade amid dwindling inspections.
Ombudsman Winnie Chiu Wai-yin on Thursday made 11 suggestions to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department in regard to its oversight of pet owners, saying it had failed to properly update and renew licences, vaccinate and microchip Hong Kong’s dogs.
“The dog-licensing system originated from the government’s efforts to prevent and control rabies. The initial intention was to protect public health,” Chiu said. “Relying on education and dog keepers’ self discipline alone is not sufficient.”
“The AFCD needs to adopt a two-pronged approach, with both education and enforcement for effective regulation.”
Under the Rabies Ordinance, dogs older than five months must be licensed, vaccinated against rabies and microchipped. The microchip is valid for the animal’s entire lifespan, while rabies shots and licences must be renewed every three years.
But senior investigative officer Teresa Poon said that between January 2011 and June this year, more than 167,800 licences had expired, with nearly 40 per cent between two and five years out of date.
More than a quarter had been expired for more than five years.
Yet inspections had simultaneously decreased, meaning prosecutions of irresponsible owners had fallen, with the number of Hongkongers charged over unlicensed dogs dropping from 372 in 2017 to just 225 last year.
Poon said licence inspections could identify irresponsible owners, who are believed more likely to abandon their dogs, and thus prevent an increase in strays.
Authorities, however, have been sending reminders only to pet owners who have registered their dogs directly with the department, despite two-thirds of the city’s owners having done so via private veterinary clinics.
She urged the department to send out reminders to all owners who had records in the government registration database.
Authorities should also set a time limit for vets to process licence applications, Poon said, as some owners ended up waiting as long as five months before receiving a permit.
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“Many of these vets submit the applications in bulk, meaning owners wait for a very long time before they receive the licence,” she said.
“The AFCD should set a time frame for vets to submit the application status after they have vaccinated and microchipped a dog.”
The watchdog further said the department should only accept surrendered dogs if the owners could provide a good reason.
Residents attempting to reclaim a captured and non-microchipped stray, meanwhile, should provide sufficient evidence of ownership, such as a lost dog report or photos taken with the animal.
The Ombudsman said the department had accepted its suggestions and was in the process of implementing them.
Eva Sit Ngai-man, communications manager for Hong Kong Dog Rescue, said her group welcomed the Ombudsman’s suggestion that the AFCD step up inspections of microchips, vaccinations and licences, but warned that requiring good reasons from dog owners looking to give up pets might have an opposite effect.
“If a dog owner is looking to abandon their pet, they will do it anyway. We have heard about some dogs just being tied up along streets or even outside the AFCD’s front door,” Sit said. “But this will not solve the root cause of irresponsible ownership.”
However, she acknowledged it would be a good idea to ask dog owners for the reason they wanted to get rid of their canine companions. “Knowing the background of the animal will help authorities better understand why they are surrendering the animal,” Sit added.
She said Hong Kong Dog Rescue had previously suggested the AFCD get owners to fill out a form that noted whether the dog had been vaccinated, had any behavioural issues or whether it had been neutered, to make it easier to process the animal for adoption later.
Meanwhile, after a separate investigation, the watchdog called on the government to increase penalties for people who illegally sold fuel, mostly diesel used by truck drivers. Chiu said that illegal petrol stations lacked fire safety measures and equipment, posing risks to nearby residents.
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She said the Fire Services Department should expand its seven-strong task force on illegal fuel sales to carry out more surprise inspections.
She added a recent amendment to reduce the statutory exempt fuel storage quantity from 2,500 litres to 500 litres would help tackle the problem, as illicit operators had kept their stock below that amount to avoid being fined.
In response, the Security Bureau said the Fire Services Department was already looking into stepping up manpower and increasing joint operations with police, as well as diversifying its educational efforts.
But the bureau rejected the Ombudsman’s suggestion that it regulate the fuel industry at the source, saying it did not match the original goal of the Dangerous Goods Ordinance and that any changes were likely to affect residents’ daily lives.
“The ordinance is meant to regulate the manufacture, storage, transport and use of dangerous goods to ensure fire safety, and not to regulate the supply and sale,” the bureau said.
“To do so would not be in line with the ordinance and would overstep regulatory bounds and drastically alter the legislation.”
