Rats versus pets: Hong Kong dog owners want rodent poison in boxes, not bags

Quaife’s dog, Amfy, on the way to the vet after unwittingly eating rat poison.

Photo: Handout Hong Kong pet owners have called for environmental authorities to place rat poison in boxes instead of hanging them in transparent bags, with one owner saying his dog had to visit the veterinarian three times in recent months after accidentally consuming pellets that spilled from broken bags onto the pavement.

In response to queries by the South China Morning Post, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said rodenticides were used “only when warranted”, and had adjusted the placement of some baits and replaced bagged baits with bait boxes.

Matt Quaife, owner of a two-year-old Labrador, Amfy, said the dog had to be rushed to the veterinarian three times in the past three months because she accidentally ingested rat poison left by the department.

The visits cost Quaife, 40, a total of HK$10,000 (US$1,300).

The first incident occurred last Christmas, when he and Amfy were walking between Repulse Bay and Deep Water Bay, and the dog ate pellets that had spilled onto the pavement from a damaged bag of poison. “The walkway is right next to the water where hundreds of dogs go every day, and they just tied the bags on the railing at the side of the walkway,” Quaife said. “If a big Labrador like mine has five pellets, it will kill the dog by internal bleeding as it blocks vitamin K, which blocks clotting.” Rat poison pellets on the footpath between Repulse Bay and Deep Water Bay.

Photo: Handout While his dog did not get seriously ill after being rushed to the vet, Amfy had to return three days later for a blood test.

Amfy ingested poison again in January and March, leaving Quaife to wonder “how many dogs the department was willing to kill” in its anti-rodent campaign.

He said his pet was like his child and that the situation was similar to “someone sprinkling rat poison in your kids’ cereal.” “You would be pretty angry,” he said.

While the FEHD had agreed to review the locations after he complained, Quaife said the one-off fixes were not enough. “In reality, they need to fix the policy because they are addressing the single bag I complain about, rather than realising that hanging poison in front of a dog is generally a bad idea,” he said. “What I ask of them is to have a policy of using boxes in residential areas, so the rat can get in, but obviously a dog cannot eat it.” Another pet owner, Sophie Abarquez, who walks her four-year-old mongrel Zuko at

原文链接: 南华早报