(CN-HKG) Killing in Hong Kong

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South China Morning Post

Saturday, February 25, 2006

U-turn means owners can keep pet birds

MARY ANN BENITEZ

Bird owners may keep their pets after all, the government said

yesterday, in a policy U-turn ahead of a judicial review of its

poultry ban sought by the Heung Yee Kuk.

 

The move will affect chickens, ducks, geese, quails and pigeons kept

as pets by owners who failed to apply for an exemption through a so-

called " exhibition licence " by the time the ban came into force on

February 13. Only 228 applications for such licences have been made,

mostly by racing-pigeon breeders.

 

Last night, the kuk said it would apply on Monday for a judicial

review of the ban, which it believes contravened the Basic Law's

protection of property rights.

 

Owners who hid their pets for fear of confiscation will now be

allowed to keep them until the birds die, according to Deputy

Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Eddy Chan Yuk-tak.

 

" It is not a licence ... [but for] those who have not asked for a

licence, we will go for a grandfather clause, " Mr Chan said.

 

The " grandfather clause " would exempt people who had kept poultry as

pets before the new law went into force on February 13, so long as

they had put in place " appropriate biosecurity measures " .

 

Mr Chan said that because the H5N1 virus that causes bird flu was

constantly mutating, the exemption could be restricted.

 

" In future, if we have evidence showing that pigeons are also

infected with H5N1, then we may not be able to allow the pigeon

owners to continue keeping their pigeons, " he said at a meeting of

the Legislative Council bills subcommittee examining amendments to

the backyard-poultry ban.

 

" We understand that this is a free community and different people may

like different pets, " he said.

 

A statement from the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau said the move

was made after taking into consideration poultry owners' requests.

 

Over the past 12 days, 38 households have been found to be keeping

illegal poultry. A total of 235 chickens and 69 other birds have

been confiscated and killed.

 

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Poultry payout policy riles lawmakers

They say the government is failing to give a straight answer on why

it won't compensate owners of backyard chickens

MARY ANN BENITEZ and MARTIN WONG

Southern District councillor Shek Kwok-keung holds up a banner in the

Legislative Council that reads: " Dictatorial policy deprives people

of their right to raise pets " . As spokesman for the Anti-Bird-Flu

Action Alliance, he said the government was failing to adopt

consistent policies.

Picture by Martin Chan

 

Legislators yesterday accused the government of constantly changing

its rationale for rejecting calls to compensate owners of backyard

chickens.

Cheung Hok-ming, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and

Progress of Hong Kong, said the government had previously cited cost

as the reason.

 

" The government said they did not want to delay the legislative

exercise because the arguments would centre on the amount, " he told

the bills subcommittee scrutinising proposed amendments governing the

licensing of poultry kept at home.

 

But Mr Cheung said what he was hearing yesterday was public health

considerations. " Money is not mentioned. "

 

Democrat Andrew Cheng Kar-foo said officials had previously claimed

that if they offered compensation, it could induce people to smuggle

in chickens to surrender for compensation. " Now you want to avoid

compensation because you want to avoid any arguments. Who would

argue with you if you wanted to pay $40 or $50 compensation per

chicken? " Mr Cheng said.

 

Deputy Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Eddy Chan Yuk-tak said

the government had been firm from the beginning about not paying

compensation.

 

He defended the decision to ban the keeping at home of more than

20 chickens but to allow exemptions for flocks of racing pigeons.

 

" Our experience tells us that pigeons are less likely to be infected

with avian flu and so we will see what assistance we can give to

pigeon owners on the basis of existing legislation, " Mr Chan said.

 

" We have no intention of killing the pigeons. We are not going to

cull the pigeons on a massive scale. "

 

The government is also considering how much to charge for a licence

to keep poultry at home - saying it will be " reasonable " . Circuses

and Ocean Park pay $10,000 for " exhibition licences " to keep animals

and birds.

 

Representatives of pet-bird owners and animal welfare groups told the

subcommittee the ban on keeping poultry at home was

counterproductive, as pet owners had been hiding their animals.

Fiona Woodhouse, deputy director of the Society for the Prevention of

Cruelty to Animals, said the ban would make owners of pet birds " even

more reluctant to surrender their birds " .

 

The Anti-Bird-Flu Action Alliance criticised the government's " ever-

changing " decisions.

 

" Today, it announces one decision. Tomorrow, it will announce

another one. We just can't trust the government any more, " Shek Kwok-

keung, spokesman for the alliance and a Southern District councillor,

said.

 

a.. A male two-way permit holder, who was found operating an illegal

poultry slaughtering factory in Yuen Long was yesterday sentenced to

three months' jail and fined $2,000 by Tuen Mun Court. He was

convicted of operating an unlicensed food factory, keeping livestock

without a licence, and breaching conditions of stay, a spokesman for

the Environmental Hygiene Department said.

Government officers raided the illegal abattoir in Kai Pak Leng, Yuen

Long, last week and seized 1,000 live chickens and 80 slaughtered

birds.

 

Ban rethink February 3, 2006: Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food

York Chow Yat-ngok announces that a ban on backyard poultry farming

will take effect within one or two weeks and measures will be taken

to ensure the strict enforcement of laws prohibiting chicken

smuggling.

 

February 8: Amendments to the Public Health (Animals and Birds)

Regulations are gazetted to outlaw the keeping of live poultry at

home.

People who keep poultry at home are told they will need a licence.

 

February 13: Agriculture, health and environmental protection

departments send out inspection teams to seize poultry from backyard

farmers and those who keep poultry at home.

 

February 17: Heung Yee Kuk vows to seek a judicial review of the

government's ban on backyard poultry.

 

February 24: Health, Welfare and Food Bureau indicates it is studying

the feasibility of allowing people who had been keeping poultry as

pets before the ban to continue as before.