NGO PETA Asia offers HK$50,000 reward for info about suspected hamster abuse

Skip to content An animal rights NGO is offering a HK$50,000 reward for anyone with information that could assist police in a case involving suspected hamster abuse. The hamsters rescued next to a Sham Shui Po rubbish bin. Photo: hamu.mirukuti, via Facebook. In a social media post on Wednesday, PETA Asia said the discovery of two hamsters next to a rubbish bin in Sham Shui Po with severe injuries to their limbs was “horrifying.” “Parts of their paws and feet were missing. The injuries are extremely abnormal, and [we] suspect deliberate animal cruelty,” the post, written in Chinese, said. The hamsters rescued next to a Sham Shui Po rubbish bin. Photo: hamu.mirukuti, via Facebook. The suspected abuse came to light on Monday when hamster concern group Hamu Mirukuti said it had received a call for help from a man, surnamed Cheung, in the early hours. He told the group that he had stumbled upon a cage with two hamsters next to a bin in Sham Shui Po, according to the group’s Facebook post. Members of the concern group located the cage, and were startled to find that the hamsters’ four limbs were partially cut off. They reported the case to police. The hamsters are currently being cared for by the group, which said it was arranging for them to see a veterinarian. HKFP has reached out to the police for comment. The maximum sentence for animal cruelty in Hong Kong is a HK$200,000 fine and imprisonment for three years. Safeguard press freedom; keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps Make a one-off donation. Hillary Leung is a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, where she reports on local politics and social issues, and assists with editing. Since joining in late 2021, she has covered the Covid-19 pandemic, political court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial, and challenges faced by minority communities. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hillary completed her undergraduate degree in journalism and sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She worked at TIME Magazine in 2019, where she wrote about Asia and overnight US news before turning her focus to the protests that began that summer. At Coconuts Hong Kong, she covered general news and wrote features, including about a Black Lives Matter march that drew controversy amid the local pro-democracy movement and two sisters who were born to a domestic worker and lived undocumented for 30 years in Hong Kong. More by Hillary Leung