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 around 10 volunteers searching for the two mongrels on the remote areas of Lantau Island on Monday.
Luk stressed the urgency of swiftly finding the dogs, known as “Dai Mui” and “Sai Mui”, saying that “the chances of finding them alive are greater if we can locate them earlier.”
He worried that the two dogs were being left inside the bag after they were abandoned on a hillside last Tuesday.
A HK$50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the recovery of each dog “regardless of whether the pair are found alive or not”, according to Luk.
The search for the two dogs began last Thursday, and more than 30 volunteers helped on Sunday.
“Dai Mui” and “Sai Mui”, who had lived at the monastery for several years, are female brown and black mongrels wearing a neckband and collar bell, according to a reward notice.
The notice said the two dogs might be in “grave danger” after allegedly getting bagged and disposed of.
Anyone with information on the two dogs is urged to contact Luk at 9097 8400.
The two dogs were allegedly bagged at the monastery last Tuesday and then driven to a hillside on the island, where they were abandoned.
The monastery said on Friday it had immediately questioned staff involved in the incident after receiving a complaint and arranged for employees to search for the dogs.
Police on Saturday arrested two male kitchen workers of the monastery in connection with the case.
The two 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.
A source familiar with the case said a preliminary investigation suggested the kitchen’s woman supervisor was bitten by one of the dogs, leading to the decision to remove the two dogs from the monastery.
The insider said the younger suspect was accused of bagging the dogs while the 65-year-old man had driven the pair to a location called San Shek Wan on the island, where the mongrels were reportedly released into the wild.
Police said the two men had been released on bail pending further investigation.
Detectives from the Lantau criminal investigation unit are following up on the case.
