Cat and canine meat: Hong Kong store raided, 70 years after commerce was banned
CNN
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Authorities in Hong Kong have raided a store suspected of promoting canine and cat meat as meals – greater than 70 years after the commerce was outlawed.
Officers seized “suspected samples of dog or cat flesh” at a store within the Yau Ma Tei district throughout a “joint blitz operation” by town’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department on Thursday night.
The AFCD mentioned it had carried out the raid after receiving studies that the meats had been on sale in Yau Ma Tei – a densely populated business and residential district within the Kowloon space – and that it had organized testing of the seized samples.
It mentioned it was additionally investigating whether or not the store was buying and selling contemporary meat with out a license.
“Prosecution will be instituted should it be proven,” the AFCD mentioned in a press release.
Eating canine and cat meat has been prohibited in Hong Kong since 1950 beneath the semi-autonomous Chinese metropolis’s legal guidelines, and the information has prompted each lawmakers and animal welfare advocates to name for higher enforcement efforts.
Lawmaker Gary Chan in a Facebook submit described the sale of cat and canine meat as “unacceptable.”
“Hong Kong has outlawed the eating of cat and dog meat for over 70 years,” the legislator mentioned. “The incident highlights that the frequency of spot checks by law enforcement agencies has not been enough.”
The raid by the federal government businesses adopted native media studies alleging the meats could possibly be discovered on sale frozen for about $12 a catty (an area unit equal to about 1.3 kilos) – just like the worth of cooked beef.
Local rights group Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals mentioned on Friday it “strongly condemns” the promoting of canine and cat meat for meals.
It urged the general public to instantly contact the police and different related authorities if they think it’s on sale.
Hong Kong’s Dogs and Cats Regulations stipulates that “no person shall slaughter any dog or cat for use as food whether for mankind or otherwise, and no person shall sell or use or permit the sale or use of the flesh of dogs and cats for food.”
Offenders are liable upon conviction to a most nice of $640 and 6 months’ imprisonment.
An estimated 30 million canines and 10 million cats globally are slaughtered annually for human consumption, in response to Humane Society International. Consumption of the animals in components of Asia are fueled by unlawful commerce and slaughter.