When a pig endures several hours of bumping in a cramped metal cage, transported from a farm in the New Territories to a slaughterhouse in the city, the fear and suffering it experiences constitute a journey of accepted cruelty under current law.

Every day in Hong Kong, over three thousand food animals are sent to slaughterhouses, yet the transport process during their final moments of life remains concealed from the public eye. Since its establishment in 1903, the Hong Kong Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has aimed to prevent animals from suffering in the transport and slaughter process, highlighting that this issue has persisted for a long time.

Today, Hong Kong still faces significant legislative and regulatory gaps regarding the transport welfare of food and laboratory animals.

• Current Status of Animal Transport Welfare: An Overlooked Journey of Life
  
  In Hong Kong, the transport of food animals is a vast and silent daily operation. Just in the licensed slaughterhouses at Sheung Shui and Tsuen Wan, around three thousand pigs, cows, and goats are processed daily for slaughter. The last segment of these animals’ lives is filled with stress and discomfort.
  
  Under current practices, pigs, cows, and goats are theoretically allowed to rest in holding pens after arriving at the slaughterhouse, and cattle are mandated to be sent to waiting pens the day before slaughter. However, there are no legally binding detailed regulations regarding the transport process itself, such as standards for transport vehicles, loading densities, rest stops, water supply, and protective measures against extreme weather.
  
  The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has long included animal welfare as one of its three core areas of work and has established relevant international standards. The organization clearly states that good animal welfare includes freedom from pain, fear, and distress and must be achieved through humane handling and slaughter.
  
• International Standards vs. Local Shortcomings: The Distant “Five Freedoms”
  
  The internationally accepted animal welfare standards are encapsulated in the “Five Freedoms,” a concept established by the UK Farm Animal Welfare Council in 1979. It specifies the basic freedoms animals should enjoy: freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury, and disease, freedom to express normal behavior, and freedom from fear and distress.
  
  When comparing these five freedoms to the realities of animal transport in Hong Kong, the gap is evident. Cramped transport spaces may deprive animals of the freedom to express their natural behaviors; prolonged transport without water and feed affects their freedom from hunger and thirst; rough loading and unloading, along with inadequate transport vehicles, directly lead to fear and discomfort.
  
  Laboratory animals face similar serious challenges during transport. These animals, used for research, lack specific legal protections while being transported between breeding facilities, laboratories, and quarantine locations. The vibrations, noise, temperature changes, and social isolation experienced during transport can severely stress them, potentially affecting the stability of scientific experimental results.
  
• Legislative Gaps: Outdated Regulations and Enforcement Difficulties
  
  The core legislation currently protecting animal welfare in Hong Kong is the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance (Cap. 169). This ordinance classifies the act of causing animals to endure “unnecessary suffering” as cruelty, clearly including cases where “the method of transporting or carrying animals causes them unnecessary suffering.”
  
  However, this provision is too vague. What constitutes “unnecessary”? Which transport methods are deemed illegal? The ordinance does not provide objective, actionable definitions or standards, making it difficult for enforcement agencies to prosecute common transportation misconduct that does not reach extreme levels of cruelty. The deterrent effect and guidance of this law are severely lacking
  
  In contrast, the UK’s animal welfare legislation and enforcement system is more advanced. Inspectors from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) are empowered to enforce the law, and their responsibilities explicitly include monitoring the transport and slaughter methods of economic animals (food animals) for compliance with humane standards. This model of empowering specialized organizations to conduct active supervision and enforcement is worth emulating in Hong Kong.
  
• From Gaps to Reform: Constructing a Specific Roadmap for Humane Transport
  
  To genuinely improve animal transport welfare, Hong Kong must adopt a series of concrete and robust reform measures. First, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) should urgently draft and implement the Operating Code for the Transport of Food and Laboratory Animals.
  
  This code should be based on OIE international standards and the “Five Freedoms,” detailing the maximum transport time, loading densities, vehicle designs, temperature and humidity control, frequency of feed and water supply, and methods for loading and unloading for various types of animals. While this initial phase can serve as guidance, the objective should be to elevate it to legally binding regulations.
  
  Second, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance must be amended to include specific penalties targeting negligence or inhumane treatment of animals during transport. Currently, the maximum penalty for cruelty to animals is a fine of HKD 200,000 and imprisonment for three years. However, more targeted graduated penalties should be established for common transport negligence to increase deterrence.
  
  Finally, there should be enhanced mandatory training and regulation for transport personnel. All drivers and handlers involved in transporting live animals must complete basic animal welfare and humane handling courses. Meanwhile, the AFCD should establish dedicated animal welfare inspector positions with authority to conduct random inspections at transport hubs, slaughterhouses, and border crossings to ensure compliance with standards
  
  When cattle are hung by their legs in slaughterhouses and laboratory mice bump around in dark boxes, their silence is not without pain.
  
  The level of civilization in Hong Kong depends on how society treats these most silent lives. From legislation and enforcement to public oversight, reform driven by conscience and civilization is urgently needed.