149 dogs were rescued from the raid of a breeding facility in Lau Fau Shan on 3 September 2010. The dogs were confined in small, filthy cages stacked on top of other cages. They exhibited severe stereotypic behaviour – spinning in circles uncontrollably. The skin conditions for most of the dogs were dreadful and most of them had filthy matted coats.

Each of the 149 rescued dogs underwent a veterinary examination and was transferred to the SPCA and AFCD. Over 50 of the dogs in a more severe condition were sent to the SPCA Wanchai Centre for further veterinary check-up, treatment and care.

A number of the dogs were pregnant, and their pups were born soon after, bringing the total number of dogs to 186. Many of our staff personally fostered them while waiting for the prosecution case to complete.

On 6 April 2011, the owner of the puppy farm was found guilty of causing and permitting unnecessary suffering to animals, and keeping dogs without licenses. However, it could not be proven by law that he was breeding dogs for sale. Without sufficient evidence, he was only fined a paltry HK$5,000 under the “Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance” and sentenced to 150 hours of community service.