Dogs And Cats

According to Ordinance #5 of 1893, that became effective on June 26, 1893, all dog owners are required to obtain licenses for their dogs, except for “such dog kept by an agriculturist solely as a watch dog and is necessary for that purpose”.

The “Dogs and Cats Regulation”, effective from January 13, 1950, made the slaughter or sale of dogs and cats, for food, illegal – Cap 167, section 3, Ordinance #1 of 1950; contravention is liable to a fine of one thousand dollars and to imprisonment for six months.

Hong Kong Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Founded on August 28, 1903, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) [1] remained inactive until re-established on June 24, 1921 where the 16th Governor Reginald Edward Stubbs accepted positions as President and Patron of the society. The following year saw the society's first event – a fancy dress fund-raising ball held in the old City Hall on February 20, 1922. Margaret (Maclean) Ho-tung [2], wife of Robert Ho-tung, funded the establishment of the first dog's home, opened in June 1923 and was located on Waterloo Road. Queen Elizabeth II granted the society the royal nomenclature in 1978; the title was dropped in 1997.

[1] This is what was written in the Hong Kong Telegraph August 28, 1903, “From the Editorial: Before the following lines appear in print, the inaugural meeting of the Hong Kong Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will have been held this afternoon.”

[2] R. Ho-tung (sitting in middle in the photo) had two wives (2 co-wives). He married Margaret Maclean (usually known as Lady Ho-tung)(right in the photo) first and, for the reason that Maclean did not produce a child, he married Clara, Cheung Lin-kok (usally known as the Lady Clara)(left). Donating to the SPCA seemed more a Lady Clara's kind of thing, but since the SPCA website explicitly mentions Lady Ho-tung, I therefore put her name here.