Political animals in America, Britain, China, Iran, Russia and …. have all gone into political-spin overdrive. Time out from institutional political barks and howls. Time to pay attention and give time to animals. Real animals. Our companions who love us unconditionally.
What a pleasure to see more than 6,000 pet lovers, many wearing red ribbons, march to government headquarters in Hong Kong last scorching hot Sunday, calling for stricter penalties for animal abusers. Many had their pets. Dogs, cats, birds, lizards and pro-animal rights political animal Democratic Party member Roy Kwong Chun-yu, a co-organizer of the march.
The red ribbons symbolized the blood from animals that have been abused or killed.
“We urge the government to set up an animal welfare law and raise the penalty of animal abusers to a maximum of 10 years in jail plus a fine of HK$2 million,” he said.
The current law was established in 1935 and is outdated.
Kwong also called on the Agriculture and Conservation Department to stop euthanizing animals and criticized the government for providing millions of dollars to kill animals every year.
The government started a three-month public consultation on April 26, to determine the prison sentence. From four to 10 years and whether courts can disqualify animal abusers from owning pets.
Being in the pet care business in Hong Kong, I know first-hand how abusive some people can be towards animals. No different than their abuse of each other. Man’s inhumanity to man is a mere reflection of man’s inhumanity towards animals.
Stricter laws for animal abusers should be adopted worldwide. While we are at it, laws prohibiting dogs from being in restaurants, bars and other public places with their pet parents should also be abolished and change to reflect modern-day reality. People and their pets do eat and drink in public places and by doing so are unintentionally breaking the law. Are they or the restaurants really criminals? Especially when getting together to plan the next marches and campaign to make animal abusers pay for their abuse with up to 10 years behind bars and at least a HK$1,000,000.00.
I can now get back to the political animal dog and cat fights.