HK$100,000 reward for clues on 2 dogs allegedly bagged, taken from Hong Kong monastery
- Volunteers scour Lantau Island for brown-and-black mongrels ‘Dai Mui’ and ‘Sai Mui’, while two kitchen staff arrested for alleged animal cruelty
A reward of up to HK$100,000 (US$12,830) is being offered for information on the whereabouts of two dogs that were allegedly bagged and taken from a Buddhist monastery in Hong Kong, then abandoned on a hillside on an outlying island.
Kent Luk Ka-jeep, founder of an animal welfare organisation Paws Guardian Rescue Shelter, was personally sponsoring the reward and among 10 volunteers searching for the two mongrels on the remote areas of Lantau Island on Monday.
Police on Saturday arrested two male kitchen workers, who worked in the monastery, in connection with the case. The two dogs were allegedly grabbed at the monastery last Tuesday and then driven to a hillside on the island and abandoned.
The men, aged 46 and 65, were detained on suspicion of animal cruelty – an offence punishable by up to three years in jail and a HK$200,000 fine under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance.
Luk stressed the urgency of swiftly finding the dogs, known as “Dai Mui” and “Sai Mui” – meaning “big sister” and “little sister” – saying “chances of finding them alive are greater if we can locate them earlier.”
He expressed worry that the two dogs might have been left inside the bag, but offered a HK$50,000 reward per animal for any information leading to their recovery “regardless of whether they are found alive or not”.
The search for the dogs began last Thursday, and more than 30 volunteers helped on Sunday.
