Lawmakers in Hong Kong are deliberating a proposal to impose heavier penalties for animal cruelty offences. And all indications are that the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Amendment) Bill 2006 will sail through once the legislature reconvenes after its summer recess.

The government seeks to increase the maximum penalty for acts of cruelty to animals, which include beating, kicking or torturing, from a fine of HK$5,000 (US$700) to HK$100,000 (US$1,400) and/or imprisonment for six months to one year.

The Hong Kong government felt the need to amend the statute after a spate of animal torture cases came to light in March.

The first was the tragic story of Pan Pan, a puppy found with all of its limbs chopped off.

The same month, a 26-year-old man was jailed for three months for beating to death his flatmate's Shih-tzu dog because its barking was disturbing his TV-watching.

Last month, a 21-year-old man was sentenced to 14 days in jail and fined HK$1,000 (US$140) for locking up his pet dog at home without leaving enough water or food, thus starving it to death.

But the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau is now determined to see an end to such acts through a more deterrent law, a spokesman said recently.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said about the mainland, which has yet to enact a law that would protect animals against torture and abuse.

As living standards rise along with the economy, many mainlanders are taking to pets and are believed to be keeping 150 million dogs in human companionship. Beijing alone had half a million pet dogs in 2004.

The pet population would be far greater if cats and other animals are taken into account.

This has raised calls for legislation against cruelty to animals. The pleas gained strength last year when video clips of a cat being stomped to death by a young woman in stockings and high heels were circulated in the cyber world.

Despite the public outcry for the pet's suffering, the authorities found that no law existed under which to prosecute her. She eventually got away unscathed after apologizing online for her mindless act.

Had the woman committed such an act in Hong Kong, she certainly would have been subjected to the maximum penalty.

In the United States, the website operator, too, would receive punishment under the Federal Government's "Crushing Act" for displaying acts of cruelty and/or sexual abuse for commercial gains.

But even the public's reaction to the cat-stomping case doesn't seem to have awakened the authorities as well as the public to the need for a law against cruelty to animals.

But therein lies a dilemma. People still commit crimes despite all the criminal penal codes across the world. So will just a statute against cruelty to animals act as a deterrent?

The answer is yes and no. Only by fostering a caring and loving relationship between humans and all other animals not only pets can we overcome the second, negative aspect of the answer.

Education is the key to preventing cruelty. And it had better start with the children. Teaching them kindness and respect will help their overall moral development. Children who learn to be kind to animals will mature into kind, caring adults.

A nation's affluence makes life better for its people, but does not necessarily make the nation great. A caring, loving people do.

Didn't that sage of non-violence Mahatma Gandhi say: "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated"?

Email: zouhr@chinadaily.com.hk

(China Daily 08/18/2006 page4)