Kwun Tong Court today sentenced a pizza delivery man, Ho Hung Kei, to a month in prison for keeping his Pomeranian dog locked in his car for 15 hours. On 28 December last year, passers-by noticed a dog locked in the back seat of a car in a Shui Long Wo car park. When they returned a few hours later they saw to dog was still inside. They alerted the SPCA, who called in the emergency services.
Firefighters arrived at the scene to find the dog locked in the car with a bunch of unpeeled bananas. A veterinary examination found the dog was suffering from ear infections and ear lice.
The court heard that Ho, 52 years old, had a previous conviction for the same offence, and had been sentenced to two weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years, just four months earlier, involving the same dog.
Ho’s defence lawyer explained the defendant had been using the private car as a home for the previous nine months, and had been raising the dog for three years. He thought the dog would be all right. After the incident, he had moved back to live with his mother in a public housing flat in Tung Chung. The court noted that the dog had been in the care of the SPCA for eight months. Ho was sentenced to two weeks in prison for the current offence, and the previous suspended sentence added. The maximum penalty for cruelty to animals is three years imprisonment and a $200,000 fine. The court also deprived Ho of ownership of the dog, and was also ordered to pay the SPCA costs.
The SPCA said that once the court clearance was received the dog would be put up for adoption.
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