Submitted by Dr. John:

Complaint to Ombudsman; copy to Director, AFCD; SPCA.

Dear Sir,

My colleagues and I have been working to control stray dogs and cats on Lamma Island for the last 12 years. At every turn, the AFCD does its best to thwart our efforts. We have always tried to cooperate with them but they undermine our work.

Despite AFCD opposition to what we do, the built-up areas on Lamma are almost free of nuisance dogs and cats. There are still some irresponsible owners who allow their pets to roam and defaecate on the paths but, thanks to the efforts of volunteers, there are now no free-roaming un-owned dogs. Lamma is often used as a dumping ground for unwanted dogs but any new dog is soon spotted by volunteers who will bring the dog into one of the animal welfare organisations for identification and disposal.

However, there is still a problem with free-roaming feral dogs in the hills. We have put a great deal of effort over the last 12 years to persuade AFCD of the superiority of Trap, Neuter and Return (TNR) over Catch and Kill (CK). CK is the method of control AFCD has been using for the last 50 years - it obviously does not work. There is a short term drop in numbers but the numbers soon recover as the remaining dogs increase reproduction to fill the ecological niche. For CK to work, it would be necessary to Catch and Kill 100% of the dogs in an area. With TNR it is only necessary to reach 70% for the dog numbers to start a permanent decline.

My complaint is two fold:
1. AFCD stop us from doing TNR, claiming that returning the dogs to the hills is abandonment and that the dogs are not under our control. Of course the dogs are not under control before we pick them up so why should we be prosecuted for just changing their ability to procreate?

2. AFCD refuse to implement even a trial of TNR. They have recently announced that SPCA can start a TNR trial on Lamma Island but they are setting it up to fail. My particular complaint now is that AFCD is harassing the hill dogs which are supposed to be the subject of a scientific study on TNR. They are sending out frequent and sometimes large patrols to Catch and Kill them. They claim that they are acting in response to complaints by members of the public. They claim that they have recently been told by your Office that they must respond to all complaints. Fine, they can investigate complaints but they have no obligation to Catch and Kill dogs which are living quietly in the hills causing no danger or trouble. They routinely pick up easy to catch, gentle young dogs, the very dogs which we wish to have desexed under the TNR trial.

I hereby request you to ask the AFCD to cease their Catch and Kill operations on Lamma and give their support to SPCA to start the TNR trial.

Dr John Wedderburn,

Honorary Life Member and past Vice-Chair, SPCA.
Joint Founder of Lamma Animal Protection.
Joint Founder of Lamma Animal Welfare Centre.
Advisory Board Member, STOP (Save Hong Kong’s Cats and Dogs).

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I'm looking forward to the response from the AFCD!!!

As a Lamma resident who first lived on this fair isle 20 years ago, I am incredibly impressed at the changes regarding stray cats and dogs on the streets due to the efforts, time and dedication of both animal organisations, and of course yourself John!!!

20 years ago there were stray dogs roaming everywhere. (and of course a LOT more dog shit) Many dogs diseased, and many with patches of skin missing due to having 'hot oil' thrown over them if the stray dog dared to wander near a kitchen.

Dog poisonings were a common occurrence.

Also dead or seriously diseased kittens and cats on the streets, (it's amazing how many kittens an 'unspayed' cat can produce!!!) It was heartbreaking.

Due to the efforts of the TNR programme and dedicated volunteers, the situation is radically different today, so when the AFCD profess that TNR is not a solution, then they are delusional, and rather behind the times. Their views are quite pathetic.

The AFCD have an enormous amount of people devoting their time, resources, personal finance and time to make this TNR programme successful, and they HAVE been successful. But everyone is thwarted by the AFCD at every turn, and it's quite disgraceful in this day and age.

HK an International City?? Still has a long way to go regarding protecting the environment, protecting it's local working class people and the welfare of animals.

WHOOPS!!!!!!!

MAJOR TYPO ERROR!!

I meant to say 'LAMMA ANIMAL ORGANISATIONS AND VOLUNTEERS' have made an incredibly enormous change to the streets of Lamma regarding the stray dogs and cats.

NOT the AFCD!!!

What I don't understand -- and correct me if I am wrong -- why does the AFCD allow, or tolerate, TNR for cats (which proven to have lowered the number of stray cats), but it has adamantly opposed to TNR for stray dogs?

What's the logic of this ambivalent approach?

You're looking for LOGIC in a Govt. Dept.'s decisions? You're new to HK, perhaps?

It might have to do with that all dogs, especially feral ones, seem SCARY and FEARSOME and DANGEROUS to many Lamma visitors, independent of size;
but cats, even feral cats, are awww-so-cute in their eyes....

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Phew...... that's a long story. Around 20 years of various groups trying to change the laws regarding a no kill policy and the TNR programme. I wouldn't know where to start.

I'm sure you can send a PM to John Wedderburn and/or other local organisations to find out more. Or check out the STOP website www.hkstop.org.

As for the logic in government policy regarding this issue. Well... there is none.

Simply - the law. There is a law stating that dogs must not be abandoned and must be kept under control at all times. There is no such law for cats. It is obviously a good law if applied correctly. But AFCD has used it to prosecute folk who do dog TNR - when you release a dog back into the hills, it is no longer under your control. But we would never return a dog that was in any way dangerous. Fortunately, Lamma hill dogs are very gentle - they even let us go right into their dens and take away their babies for adoption. But Desexing is a much better option. Please help to make TNR happen by coming to the meetings next week.