2.
Concerning the allegation of cruelty it should firstly be noted that there is no specific authority responsible for the enforcement of this Ordinance. The Ordinance is couched in such a way that any member of the public can institute legal action against an offender. In practice, however, such action is usually undertaken either by the staff of the HKSPCA or a department of HKG, usually our own. In the case of members of the public, the SPCA, or indeed any Government officer other than a veterinary officer or certain categories of health officer, it is necessary to call in the Police to effect arrest and seizure. This was the basis of our advice to Miss Tsu, namely, to suggest that she should take any cruelty action through the local police station; and this she did – witness her letter to Mr. Cavanaugh.
It is often, indeed usually, difficult to successfully obtain a conviction for cruelty except under very flagrant circumstances. When departmental action, possibly leading to prosecution, is contemplated under this Ordinance, the matter is normally referred to the Legal Department for advice.
To be brief,
the outcome of this process in relation to Miss Tsu's affidavit was that the Attorney General's office advised the Police that "on the basis of the facts provided in the affidavit" no further legal action should be taken.
The above advice was not unanticipated by this department; and it was for this reason that we preferred to adopt a somewhat more oblique approach. Although at the beginning of 1976 the Shing Lee Hong premises were up to the necessary standards to enable them to be licensed to trade in live animals, over the subsequent months they had become increasingly "cavalier" in their attitude towards our inspectors, and to both verbal and written requests to maintain their premises at the standards required by us. Acting on the basis of Miss Tsu's information a further series of inspections was carried out in December 1976 and January 1977 culminating in the self-explanatory letter to the Shing Lee Hong, copy attached. Our somewhat cautious approach in this instance was occasioned by the time taken to obtain legal advice and confirmation of the action to be taken, including the need for a suitable grace period.
The management of the Shing Lee Hong are now making strenuous efforts to bring their premises, equipment and procedures up to the required standard. Although one cannot of course prejudge the issue, on present showing there is every reason to suppose that these late efforts will continue to fall short of our requirements, and that consequently it will be possible to initiate prosecution proceedings for trading without an animal dealers licence. At the same time inspection staff have been instructed that any case of cruelty is to be reported at once so that a departmental veterinarian can carry out an immediate investigation and take the appropriate follow-up action. The final decision to prosecute in either case will of course rest with the Attorney General's Department, but you will appreciate that there is greater possibility of a successful prosecution on the evidence of a qualified veterarian rather than on the views of a 'layman"
As a relevant aside, may I refer to paras. 5 and 6 of Miss Tsu's letter of the 20th January 1977, to Mr. Platt. Whilst the quotation in para. 5 is factually correct, it is misleading being out of context. the time of the interview with Miss Penn this department was endeavouring
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