Walking into a newly opened pet café, customers are joyfully taking photos with the cats and dogs inside, feeding them. This seemingly heartwarming scene is becoming a new consumer trend in Hong Kong in 2015. From pet cafés and cat cafés to animal- themed experience centers, commercial models that center on live animals as core attractions are rapidly emerging. However, beneath this façade of “healing” and “cuteness” lies a severe issue: the living conditions and basic welfare of animals placed at the frontline of commercial interactions exist in a gray area not covered by current laws.

Currently, the cornerstone of animal welfare in Hong Kong—the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance (Cap. 169)—is a “anti-cruelty law” focused on “punishing cruel behavior.” Its regulation primarily targets the personal actions of pet owners, addressing extreme behaviors such as beating and torment, which can be clearly evidenced. However, the current legislation proves inadequate for the systemic welfare deprivation that may occur in “pet-themed commercial venues” due to the nature of their business model—such as prolonged noise and disruptions from strangers, lack of adequate rest and privacy, inappropriate feeding and interaction, and unclear sources and health conditions of the animals. As long as animals do not exhibit immediate, overt severe injuries or illnesses, the law finds it difficult to intervene.

Therefore, we must face and promote fundamental legal reform: immediately initiate legislative procedures to explicitly include all profit-driven “animal display and interaction commercial activities” within the statutory regulation scope of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance. This is not an obstacle to business innovation but rather a means to establish minimum animal welfare standards for this emerging industry, ensuring that economic development does not come at the expense of the welfare of voiceless beings.

• Why Do Current Laws Fail? The Regulatory Vacuum of “Commercial Use”
  
  The law lags behind social development, particularly evident in the field of commercial animal use. There are three significant regulatory vacuums in the current framework:
  
  Firstly, the legal regulation targets are misaligned. Current legislation emphasizes the relationship between “owners” and “animals,” but animals in commercial venues are essentially “production tools” and “employees.” The primary motivation for operators is profit, and the welfare of animals can easily be sacrificed under the pressure of cost control and customer experience. Existing laws lack definitions and constraints for this new type of relationship.
  
  Secondly, the definition of abuse is too narrow. The harm inflicted on animals in a commercial environment is often long-term, chronic, and difficult to provide immediate evidence for, manifesting as “psychological oppression” and “welfare deprivation.” For example, cats are territorial and require quiet solitude; placing them in a continuously noisy café open all day where they endure constant touch and disturbances from strangers imposes substantial mental stress, which may lead to abnormal behaviors and decreased immunity. However, such “discomfort” and “suffering” are nearly impossible to be recognized as “cruel treatment” under current laws.
  
  Lastly, there is a complete lack of standards and responsibilities. How many animals should a pet café keep? What is the maximum daily interaction time each animal should have with customers? What size and structure should the independent resting area be? What kind of animal care knowledge should staff possess? Currently, there are no mandatory statutory standards in Hong Kong regarding these core welfare issues. The situation of animals entirely depends on the operator’s personal conscience and knowledge, which is highly risky.
  
• Core of Legal Reform: Introducing Targeted “Duty of Care in Commercial Venues”
  
  The core of our proposed amendment is to add a section specifically addressing “animal display and interaction commercial activities” in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance, establishing a “statutory duty of care” for operators. This means that operators must not only avoid actively abusing animals but also take all reasonable measures to ensure the physiological and psychological health of the animals in their care. Specifically, this should include:
  
  • Establishing Mandatory Licensing and Inspection Systems: Any venue engaging in such business must apply to the Fisheries and Conservation Department for specific licenses. Licensing conditions should be based on a statutory “Animal Welfare Practices Code,” covering space size, environmental enrichment, daily working (display/interaction) limits, mandatory rest days, and standards for diet and veterinary care. The department should be authorized to conduct unannounced inspections to ensure compliance.
  • Clarifying Animal Source and Lifecycle Responsibilities: To eliminate illegal breeding and trading, legislation should require operators to publicly maintain proof of the legal source of all animals. More importantly, it must stipulate that operators are responsible for the welfare of animals throughout their lives, requiring them to develop and submit an “Animal Retirement Placement Plan,” prohibiting the casual resale or abandonment of animals unsuitable for display due to old age, illness, or “lack of popularity.”
  • Regulating Employee Training and Customer Management: Operators are responsible for ensuring staff receive basic training on animal behavior and welfare, enabling them to identify signs of stress in animals and intervene in a timely manner. Additionally, the venue must provide clear guidelines to educate customers on how to interact with animals respectfully, with staff having the authority to stop inappropriate behavior.
    
• Learning and Taking Action: A Policy Process That Cannot Wait
  
  The international community has already implemented strict regulations on such commercial activities. For example, certain counties and cities in Taiwan have clear regulations on the number of pets, spatial separation, and epidemic prevention in pet restaurants. The UK’s Animal Welfare Act provides a robust legal tool for regulating various commercial uses of animals with its comprehensive “duty of care” provisions. As an international metropolis, Hong Kong should not fall behind in animal welfare legislation.
  
  The year 2015 is a critical window for advancing this reform. As the emerging industry has not yet formed a substantial vested interest, and public attention to animal welfare issues in such establishments is growing, the government should demonstrate foresighted governance capabilities.
  
  We make the following explicit call to the HKSAR government:
  
  First, immediately commit to and announce a timetable for legislative amendments to include “regulation of animal display and interaction commercial activities” in the revision agenda of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance.
  
  Second, mandate the Fisheries and Conservation Department, in collaboration with animal welfare experts, veterinarians, and industry representatives, to immediately start drafting specific sections for commercial venues in the “Animal Welfare Practices Code.”
  
  Third, before the new legislation is implemented, proactively issue administrative guidelines requiring existing venues to improve the living environments of animals and educate the public.

Conclusion: Choose Civilization or Indifference

The silence of those animals in windows and cafés should not justify their exploitation. The degree of a society’s civilization is reflected in how it treats those who cannot advocate for their own rights. Allowing an industry that attracts customers with animals while being unaccountable for their lifelong welfare to grow unchecked is a failure of the law and a moral failure of society.

Amending the law to set clear welfare floors for animals in commercial activities is an indispensable step in modernizing Hong Kong’s animal welfare policy. This is not only to protect animals but also to foster a responsible, compassionate consumer culture and business ethics. We urge every citizen to support this legislative amendment through concern and voices; we call on legislators and government officials to demonstrate political courage and responsibility to initiate this urgent reform in 2015. Let us not wait until more lives silently suffer in the midst of commercial frenzy before we finally regret it.