Prosecution of Husky Owner over Alleged Dog Attack Is a First for Hong Kong

A husky owner is facing the city’s first ever prosecution for failing to restrain a dog after the animal allegedly attacked a Chow Chow and its owner at a pet park last April.

The unprecedented case raises questions about the extent of dog owners’ responsibilities in restraining their pets within areas such as pet parks, where dogs are often set free to play.

So Tsz-mei, 29, previously denied failing to control or restrain a dog from causing annoyance to any person or from worrying or disturbing any animal in a pleasure ground, Eastern Court heard on Thursday.

It was alleged her six-year-old male husky, Hero, bit a Chow Chow named Teddy twice on April 2 last year at a pet garden in Quarry Bay while she stood by and did nothing.

Hero allegedly also left a bruise and multiple abrasions on the right knee of Teddy’s owner, Kelvin Kwok Ming-kay.

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But Philip Yeung, a Golden Retriever owner who was at the park with four others that night, testified that it had been Teddy who first approached Hero when Kwok walked into the park with his girlfriend.

“Teddy walked towards Hero and smelled his private parts,” Yeung said. “Hero wasn’t happy so he shook his body.”

Yeung said So stood by her dog at that time and pulled at the animal’s choke chain to control his emotions before she pulled the dog away.

But Teddy approached Hero again and smelled the dog’s private parts, Yeung said, adding that Hero responded with greater body movement the second time as So pulled him back.

Yeung claimed he had seen Teddy in the past disturb other dogs in the same way.

Yeung described Hero as a well-behaved dog. He said So had asked Kwok about a long white scar she had seen on Teddy, but Kwok left quickly with his girlfriend and his dog after other dog owners also approached him to talk about the scar.

Prosecutor David Iu said it was possible Yeung had not been able to observe the events clearly from a distance at night time, and stressed there was no need to prove the bites even took place.

“The prosecution needs only to prove that Hero exhibited certain behaviour, which could include biting, while the defendant did nothing,” he explained.

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Deputy magistrate Peter Hui Shiu-keung said dog owners should understandably bear a greater responsibility for controlling their pets if they were taking care of fierce hounds.

But he noted the dogs involved in this case had all been set free to play in the pet ground and that they would, like human beings, experience friction among themselves.

“So how far should the owner be responsible?” Hui asked. “Does the owner have to be particularly careful with Hero? Does the law have to be so harsh? Then who would walk their dog?”

Defence counsel Cindy Lee Shin-man said she believed the spirit of the law was for owners to exercise appropriate control over their pets in any park designed for people to set their dogs free.

“Hero’s character is that of a dog that immediately follows commands,” she said. “Does control have to involve the use of choke chains?”

She also questioned if the alleged bites did in fact take place at all since Kwok had not made a scene or questioned her client at the time, according to witnesses. It was only after Kwok submitted a report to police a few days later that he sought veterinary advice for the animal, she said.

A verdict was adjourned until March 8. If convicted, So faces a maximum penalty of a HK$2,000 fine and 14 days in prison under the Pleasure Grounds Regulation.