HK officials enforce poultry ban By Teddy Ng (China Daily) Updated: 2006-02-14 06:09
HONG KONG: Officials yesterday fanned around rural areas to enforce a ban on
raising poultry as the special administrative region tries to prevent bird flu
from taking hold.
Hong Kong's legislature last week passed an emergency law banning backyard
poultry farming after six wild birds and two chickens were killed in the past
three weeks.
Officials have also warned that poultry would be culled without any warning
should another case of bird flu emerge.
Residents raising poultry face prosecution and a maximum fine of HK$100,000
(US$12,900) unless they have a licence to raise them as pets.
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) assistant director
Liu Kwei-kin said the 200-member inspection team seized 82 poultry from 12
households, including 71 chickens, nine geese and two ducks.
Liu said the first day's operation was smooth, and only one of the 12
households resisted before handing over the poultry.
Liu expects his staff to inspect 750 villages and 300 urban squatter villages
in four to six weeks.
Some villagers said they were saddened by the legislation.
Ma Chung, a 72-year-old Au Ha Village residen who has been raising three
chickens for five years, says he will not apply for a licence to keep them as
pets as it would cost him HK$10,000 (US$1,290) a year.
"I am only a small farmer. I cannot afford so much for the licence fee," he
said.
Ma said he had already cooked three chickens on Sunday, but he and his wife
found it too "heartbreaking" to eat them. "I don't want to lose them. The
chickens are already part of my life. Life without my pets will be boring," he
said.
A Man Uk Pin Village resident, Lau Sau-fung, who keeps two chickens and seven
geese, shared Ma's feeling.
With tears in her eyes, she said she used to donate the money from selling
eggs to charity groups.
Lau said she bathed her geese and fed the chickens yesterday morning before
AFCD officials took them away.
(China Daily 02/14/2006 page1)
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