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Official Statement: Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (HK)

[Statement in Response to the Jieyang Dog Abuse Incident and Related Communication Shortfalls]

We understand and respect the public’s distress and anger regarding the recent dog abuse incident in Jieyang, Guangdong. This widespread attention reflects a collective respect for life and a shared condemnation of animal cruelty. We understand that the public is not seeking to watch brutal videos, but is worried that the truth might be obscured. We sincerely apologise for the doubts and anxiety caused by our lack of timely communication when handling and explaining our follow-up actions.

We would like to take this opportunity to explain our initial considerations and outline our commitment to improving our practices moving forward:

• Our intention in contacting the Police: As the incident happened in mainland China, Hong Kong law enforcement does not directly handle the case. We contacted the Hong Kong Police to enquire whether existing collaboration or referral mechanisms could be used to transfer the case to the relevant mainland authorities for follow-up action.
• Considerations regarding the uncut abuse footage: Our concern was the repeated circulation of the complete abuse process, rather than attempting to prevent the incident from being monitored or discussed. The uncut footage circulating online is extremely distressing and cruel. To avoid causing severe distress to the public (especially children and teenagers) and to prevent potential acts of imitation, we believe the original footage should be kept by law enforcement or investigating bodies as evidence. On media and online platforms, we agree that the public, the media, and animal protection groups should continue to report and rationally discuss the incident using appropriately blurred or edited footage, provided it does not cause distress, thereby raising public awareness of animal welfare. Therefore, we enquired with the authority about the possibility of removing the 'uncut and unedited abuse footage'.
• Shortfalls in expression and communication: We failed to timely share the full details of our discussions, which left our position unclear. To clarify: while we fully support preserving the original footage to assist official investigations, we are firmly against the unrestricted spread of graphic animal cruelty on online platforms. We are committed to improving our public communication and transparency moving forward.

Regarding future follow-up and resource allocation:

Taking into account the concerns of our participants, we have decided to cancel the Flag Day originally scheduled for 18 July. We will continue to focus our resources on direct animal welfare actions, advocacy, and education.

We will take this experience to ensure greater transparency in our future actions. Once again, we thank everyone for your understanding and continued support.

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (HK)