Southside March 2021

Page 17

local

Dog poisonings in Cyberport Another spate of dog poisonings has emerged in the pet-friendly neighbourhood. By Charmaine Ng

On the afternoon of February 7, Sunday, news of multiple dog poisonings began circulating on social media. Later that evening, the truth came to light as six dogs suffering from poisoning symptoms were admitted to the Veterinary Specialty Hospital (VSH) in Wan Chai. On Monday, two more dogs were taken in. Coincidentally, all had been to the Cyberport Waterfront Park on Sunday afternoon. The Cyberport area is popular with dog owners, with a coastal park featuring bay views, a grass field and a children’s playground. Hong Kong Dog Rescue (HKDR) was amongst the earliest to spread the news of the poisonings at 3pm that day. The organisation posted a photo on its Facebook and Instagram pages showing a piece of luncheon meat that had been poisoned. “At this point we highly recommend that

all dogs are kept away from the area unless on leash, and that you take advantage of other fun places like the Country Parks instead,” said HKDR in its post. VSH released a similar statement. “We want to continue to recommend all dog owners to avoid Cyberport (Pok Fu Lam) and the Pulse (Repulse Bay), be aware of reported poisoning cases in Sai Kung Country Parks,” it warned. The statement referred to similar incidents that took place in Sai Kung and Repulse Bay at around the same time. Taking action right away on February 8, Monday, The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) posted on its social media that a dog lover has offered up to $100,000 reward for information on the recent dog poisoning cases. The reward has since increased to $420,000 after more donations from dog lovers. These incidents are not the

first, though we do hope they will be the last and the killer will be caught. For now, all we can do is stay vigilant and protect our pets the best that we can.

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