Roughly one in three unattended dogs captured by Hong Kong authorities had been euthanised as of May this year, a sharp rise from 18 per cent in 2021, according to the latest legislative documents.
The proportion of captured unattended dogs later reclaimed by their owners or transferred to animal welfare groups for rehoming has also fallen over the past five years, the Environment and Ecology Bureau told lawmakers on Wednesday.
In a written response to the Legislative Council, Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said a total of 617 unattended dogs had been euthanised between 2021 and May this year.