The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of the Hong Kong government said Tuesday that it will step up inspection of pet shops here to guard against the import of unapproved animals and violations of licensing conditions.
Eric Tai, veterinary officer of the department was speaking on a local radio current affairs program Tuesday, after the public have expressed concern over the spread of human monkey pox, as cases of such were already reported in the United States to be associated with contact with ill prairie dogs.
"We've always been inspecting pet shops in Hong Kong, and in particular, recently due to cases related to the prairie dogs in the United States, we have already stepped up checks against those shops to see if such shops are selling what we have permitted them to sell," Eric Tai said.
"If we find out that they are selling things different from what have been approved, we'll confiscate their pets and prosecute them," he said.
Tai said pet shops are expected to sell only the kinds of pets they have been permitted to sell under the conditions of the licenses they hold, violating such conditions can incur a maximum fine of 2,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$256.4 US).
Earlier, the department issued a statement to the press here, saying that the prairie dog is not a native mammal species in Hong Kong and that no prairie dogs have ever been permitted to be imported in Hong Kong.
(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2003)
