Opinion / Zou Hanru
Treat animals right to prove yourself
By Zou Hanru (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-18 06:55
Lawmakers in Hong Kong are deliberating a proposal to impose heavier
penalties for animal cruelty offences. And all indications are that the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Amendment) Bill 2006 will sail through
once the legislature reconvenes after its summer recess.
The government seeks to increase the maximum penalty for acts of cruelty
to animals, which include beating, kicking or torturing, from a fine of
HK$5,000 (US$700) to HK$100,000 (US$1,400) and/or imprisonment for six
months to one year.
The Hong Kong government felt the need to amend the statute after a spate
of animal torture cases came to light in March.
The first was the tragic story of Pan Pan, a puppy found with all of its
limbs chopped off.
The same month, a 26-year-old man was jailed for three months for beating
to death his flatmate's Shih-tzu dog because its barking was disturbing
his TV-watching.
Last month, a 21-year-old man was sentenced to 14 days in jail and fined
HK$1,000 (US$140) for locking up his pet dog at home without leaving
enough water or food, thus starving it to death.
But the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau is now determined to see an end
to such acts through a more deterrent law, a spokesman said recently.
Unfortunately, the same can't be said about the mainland, which has yet
to enact a law that would protect animals against torture and abuse.
As living standards rise along with the economy, many mainlanders are
taking to pets and are believed to be keeping 150 million dogs in human
companionship. Beijing alone had half a million pet dogs in 2004.
The pet population would be far greater if cats and other animals are
taken into account.
This has raised calls for legislation against cruelty to animals. The
pleas gained strength last year when video clips of a cat being stomped
to death by a young woman in stockings and high heels were circulated in
the cyber world.
Despite the public outcry for the pet's suffering, the authorities found
that no law existed under which to prosecute her. She eventually got away
unscathed after apologizing online for her mindless act.
Had the woman committed such an act in Hong Kong, she certainly would
have been subjected to the maximum penalty.
In the United States, the website operator, too, would receive punishment
under the Federal Government's "Crushing Act" for displaying acts of
cruelty and/or sexual abuse for commercial gains.
But even the public's reaction to the cat-stomping case doesn't seem to
have awakened the authorities as well as the public to the need for a law
against cruelty to animals.
But therein lies a dilemma. People still commit crimes despite all the
criminal penal codes across the world. So will just a statute against
cruelty to animals act as a deterrent?
The answer is yes and no. Only by fostering a caring and loving
relationship between humans and all other animals not only pets can we
overcome the second, negative aspect of the answer.
Education is the key to preventing cruelty. And it had better start with
the children. Teaching them kindness and respect will help their overall
moral development. Children who learn to be kind to animals will mature
into kind, caring adults.
A nation's affluence makes life better for its people, but does not
necessarily make the nation great. A caring, loving people do.
Didn't that sage of non-violence Mahatma Gandhi say: "The greatness of a
nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are
treated"?
Email: zouhr@chinadaily.com.hk
(China Daily 08/18/2006 page4)
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