You don’t have to be an animal lover to share the outrage of thousands at the horrific death of a stray dog that wandered onto the tracks near Fan Ling station on the southbound Sheung Shui MTR line on Wednesday. Members of the public are saying that the MTR did not do enough to save the creature, with their outrage expressed through online petitions, Facebook groups, protests, and artwork memorials.
A photo shared on Facebook showing an MTR staff member trying to save the dog
The Chinese petition demanding an explanation from the MTR Corporation has reportedly reached more than 75,000 signatures, while an English petition asking the MTR Corporation to take the lives of animals seriously has attracted more than 5,000.
A Facebook event for a protest supposedly happening today called “Animal life crushed, Hong Kong’s reputation trampled, everyone rally to denounce the MTR!” (quite the mouthful) claims more than 1,900 people will be attending.
Facebook photo showing flowers and dog food laid out for the dead dog, with the sign saying “Conduct an investigation in what really happened, give the doggy some justice”.
There is another Facebook event for a memorial happening at Sheung Shui Station tomorrow at 10am. Almost 1,000 have said they are attending, and many have posted artwork denouncing the MTR or depicting their sadness over the death.
Artwork by Damien n Sally Chan
In a statement, the MTR Corporation said that they “support animal protection” and that they are “saddened by the event”. They claim that trains were stopped for a period of around eight minutes until 9:58am, at which point the area below the platform was considered safe and clear. During that period, a staff member went down onto the tracks to try to lift the dog up to safety, but the pup apparently struggled, causing the staff member injury.
Artwork by Jennifer Yeung via Facebook. The words say: “Please respect animals! Please respect life! Doggy, rest in peace!”
Drivers were reportedly told to drive slowly and manually so they’d be able to stop for the dog if they saw it. The MTR says a train was stopped at 10:09am when the dog was spotted again, but it was not found after another search. After that same train left the station, the dog was found dead on the tracks, its neck apparently run over.
Artwork by 杜明 (Ming Do) via Facebook
The MTR Corporation said they will improve MTR facilities to ensure that stray animals do not wander onto train platforms in the future.
On its Facebook page, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said that they are “concerned about this unfortunate incident and believe the case could have been handled better”.
Both the MTR Corporation and the SPCA have said that they are planning to meet to discuss the matter. The SPCA says it will be within a week.
Artwork by comic artist A Door A Day. The words say: “Knowing the dog was on the track, how could you turn a blind eye to its life?”
Photo: Facebook
