A legislator has proposed restricting or prohibiting the feeding of stray dogs at places where they gather, after two recent fatal dog-bite incidents prompted concern about stray-dog control. The proposal was raised during a Legislative Council committee meeting on 23 September, where the Environment and Ecology Bureau was discussing related policy work.
The legislator suggested using the health ordinance to deal with feeding hotspots. He argued that feeding can draw dogs together at places where the risk is already high, causing them to treat those locations as their territory. Someone passing through alone could then face greater danger, he said.
Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said the government would review stray-dog control and continue improving its work because the issue concerns human life. He said about 400 stray dogs are captured each year and that the situation has already improved substantially.