A 22-year-old woman, who confessed to abandoning five dogs in an apartment with insufficient food or water, landed a HKD2,000 fine and 100 hours of community service on Wednesday.
Earlier, Ng Yun-ki pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to provide sufficient food and fresh water to animals in confinement, keeping an animal in such a way as to cause it needless or avoidable suffering, and keeping a dog without a licence, Oriental Daily reported (as translated by HKFP).
The situation gradually came to light after the landlord made repeated trips to the woman’s home at Ma Tin Pok in Yuen Long last year. The court heard that the landlord first visited the woman’s flat to try and collect rent on June 27, but found that she was out. He returned to the flat five days later, only to find barking dogs at home.
When the landlord tried to visit the flat again on July 6, he noticed a foul stench emanating from it, prompting him to contact police.
On breaking into the flat, police found a dog, her four puppies, and a whole lot of poop on the floor. There was just one bowl of water next to the dogs.
Staff from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals inspected the animals, and found that they were weak, frightened, emaciated, and malnourished.
The defendant was later arrested when returning to Hong Kong via Lo Wu in mid-September. At that time, she confessed to adopting the animals from an online source without a licence, and to abandoning them when she could no longer afford her rent.
Magistrate Lau Yee-wan gave the woman a lighter sentence, given her young age and immaturity. Lau also took into account the fact that the defendant had lost her job, experienced a death in her family, and was going through problems with her boyfriend when the offences were committed.
