By Tim Pit Hok-yau
Last month, the Office of the Ombudsman published its long-awaited investigation into the Hong Kong government’s work in the fight against animal cruelty.
The report was prompted by a series of appalling cases of abuse which, according to the Ombudsman himself the words“constitute a deliberate violation of the dignity of life and in complete opposition to the very conscience of a civilized society”.
The investigation focuses primarily on the failings of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), which is responsible for animal management and welfare.
Among the main findings are ineffective AFCD investigations and inadequate follow-ups. Of the 1,633 reports of suspected animal cruelty from 2020 to June 2025, only six prosecutions were brought – a startling but not new statistic.
AFCD he answered to the Ombudsman, saying that most of the reports he has received are about complaints about noise or disturbance and not about cruelty. However, the media reports on animal cruelty, incl a recent shocking case of a 14-year-old student sharing photos and videos of cat abuse online may suggest otherwise.
Other problems highlighted in the Ombudsman’s report include weak enforcement powers; inconsistent handling of cases; poor internal monitoring and staff training; delayed reform of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance (Cap. 169), first promised in 2019; and alarmingly low penalties for illegal animal trapping, which currently carry a maximum fine of HK$50,000 with no provision for imprisonment.
These are important findings, and the Ombudsman deserves credit for highlighting the institutional shortcomings that animal advocates have been raising for years.
But while the report has identified some of the government’s key failings, it also reveals a deeper problem: Hong Kong’s approach to animal welfare remains fundamentally reactive rather than preventative, with most suggestions focusing on punishment, not prevention.
Worse still, the report overlooks many of the structural and everyday forms of animal plight that are normalized across the city. This article, therefore, aims to address these blind spots.
Duty of care
The most obvious limitation of the inquiry report concerns its ambivalence over pushing the government to enforce a “duty of care”.
While the Ombudsman acknowledges that the government has struggled to reach consensus on this proposal, he stops short of seeking its approval. This hesitation matters.
or DUTY care would fundamentally shift existing animal law from punishing cruelty after suffering occurs to preventing suffering in the first place. Without such a framework, Hong Kong continues to operate with an outdated logic: authorities intervene only after visible injury, starvation or death.
If a cat falls from an unsecured high-rise window, or if a dog is chronically confined to a small apartment with little exercise or social contact, the current legal framework can hardly intervene until obvious harm has occurred.
With the duty of care, keepers will be legally required to provide food, shelter, veterinary care and suitable living conditions that meet the animals’ physical and behavioral needs in a safe manner. In other common law jurisdictions, including the UK and Australia, duty of care provisions have already become a cornerstone of animal protection.
Undoubtedly, one of the report’s recommendations is to “further strengthen outreach and education in schools, helping students and young people build an awareness of animal protection from childhood.”
This is a fantastic recommendation for preventing animal cruelty, but it remains extremely vague. What kind of education are we talking about?
If Hong Kong really wants to cultivate respect for animals, it must first confront the contradictions in the current education system.
Attending a local high school, I still remember many science classes where animal dissection was presented as a normal part of learning, from dissecting bull eyes to listening to classmates describe experiments with mice.
These activities are still recommended by the Bureau of Education’s Biology Curriculum and Assessment guidingalthough the government also hosts high school students to “learn how humans can live in harmony with animals and show respect for all living things” in the same subject.
Human education
Not only do such laboratory practices risk reinforcing a worldview in which animals exist primarily as instruments for human use, but the pedagogical value of animal dissection has been compelling. challenge from a large body of research.
However, the issue is probably just one of many gaps in our education system that should help increase animal welfare and stop the daily exploitation of animals. Learning about veganism, the intersection between animal exploitation and other social issues, conservation, and other elements of animal education are equally important.
Humane education should equip citizens with the ability to spot the many animal cruelty practices in Hong Kong, many of which the Ombudsman’s report says nothing about.
For example, there have been repeated controversies around captive animals at Ocean Park; animal deaths in Hong Kong Zoological and Botanic Gardens; AND racing industry operated by the Hong Kong Jockey Clubwhere horses routinely suffer injuries and deaths caused by running at top speed, lax whipping regulations and the hot climate.
Of course, development projects and human activities that disrupt animal habitats should not be overlooked. Just think how the Chinese white dolphins have it LOST their habitat due to reclamation or are injured due to the propeller blades of high-speed ferries, to name just one example.
Whether one supports these institutions and projects or not, it is hard to argue that they are outside the animal welfare conversation.
The government’s lax animal management policies in urban areas are another major omission in the Ombudsman’s investigation. The report rightly condemns illegal animal trapping, but ignores government-led practices that also cause suffering, including wild boar extermination operations.
It also neglects ineffective regulation of religious practices of animal releasewhich often disrupt ecosystems and harm the animals themselves that are “rescued” because more often than not they are not released into suitable habitats.
If Hong Kong really wants to become a “civilized” city that respects life, then animal welfare cannot be limited to the prosecution of isolated cases of abuse. It must also confront the legal, educational, economic and cultural systems that normalize animal suffering in everyday life and prevent it from happening in the first place.
Another step to take to preserve animal welfare is to ask a more difficult question: What relationships do we, as a city, continue to build with the animals that live among us?
Like the philosopher Martha Nussbaum remembers we, animal justice should not be measured simply by the absence of cruelty, but by whether animals can actualize the skills essential to their flourishing.
For dogs, this includes play, exercise and social bonding. For dolphins, this means the ability to hunt, communicate and live within their natural habitat. Mere survival is not well-being; it’s a decent life.
The Ombudsman’s report is an important step. But it should not be confused as a final solution. Rather, it should remind us that there is always more that we—as policymakers, educators, and citizens—must do.
Tim Pit Hok-yau is the research leader Hong Kong Animal Law and Protection Organisation.
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