Public perception of stray animals on the streets is undergoing a profound transformation from “disruption and disdain” to “sympathy and concern.” In the past, the government’s primary response to stray dog issues was “capture, shelter, and humane treatment.” However, with the awakening of societal awareness regarding animal welfare, this approach, focused on ending life, has not only cost the public purse a significant amount each year but also increasingly faced ethical and long-term effectiveness doubts from the public. Against this backdrop, a non-lethal management strategy centered on “catching, neutering, and returning” is viewed as a more humane and modern alternative.

In 2015, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department launched a three-year TNR trial program in Cheung Chau and Yuen Long’s Tai Tong, aiming to scientifically assess the method’s effectiveness in controlling stray dog populations and reducing community disturbances. Now that the three-year trial has ended, an independent consultant’s evaluation report was submitted to the Legislative Council in May 2018. Unfortunately, the report indicates that the program “failed to meet its original performance indicators.” This conclusion comes as a cold shower to animal welfare organizations and citizens who have long advocated for TNR. Should we completely deny the value of TNR? The answer is clearly no. On the contrary, this moment is crucial for us to reflect calmly, draw lessons from failure, optimize policies, and seek more effective paths.

• Facing the Dilemma: Why Did the Pilot Plan Fail?

Understanding the setbacks of this trial is the first step in optimizing future policies. The failure of the plan may stem from a combination of complex factors.

First, insufficient or unsustainable neutering coverage presents the biggest challenge to TNR’s success. International research generally indicates that to effectively control an open stray animal population, a high proportion of the animals must be continuously neutered. In semi-closed communities like Tai Tong and Cheung Chau, new unneutered dogs may constantly migrate in or be abandoned. If the neutering rate does not keep up with the influx of new individuals and internal breeding, the population will not decrease.

Secondly, there is a contradiction between the unique characteristics of the pilot area and the program’s rigid goals. The core indicator for evaluating the program’s effectiveness is “reducing the number of stray dogs and related complaints.” However, dog behavior is complex, and their activity range may vastly exceed the geographical boundaries set by the pilot. Even if dogs in the area behave more stable and complaints decrease due to neutering, if disturbances from surrounding areas are factored in, the overall data may not reflect local improvements. Additionally, the evaluation period is only three years, which may be insufficient for TNR strategies that allow the population to naturally age and slowly decline through neutering.

Furthermore, community support and accompanying measures, which are vital, may have been overlooked. TNR is not a simple neutering procedure; its success heavily depends on ongoing community monitoring, basic care for returned animals (such as designated feeding and simple shelter), and in-depth public education to prevent abandonment and new feeding locations. Without close collaboration with community residents and volunteer organizations, the plan may become merely superficial.

• Drawing on Experience: Finding Keys from Local and Overseas Success Cases

Despite the setbacks faced in this trial for dogs, the potential of the TNR concept in other contexts in Hong Kong should not be overlooked. The Cat Colony Care Program implemented by the Hong Kong Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a long-term and relatively successful case. This program provides systematic neutering, medical care, and assistance for community stray cats, demonstrating positive achievements in managing specific cat populations. Places like Lamma Island have formed community models of harmonious coexistence between humans and stray cats through collaboration.

These successes, contrasting with the setbacks in the dog trial, clearly illustrate that implementation strategies must be adapted to species characteristics. Cats have relatively fixed activity areas, while dogs have wider activity ranges and more complex social structures, indicating that managing dogs requires broader perspectives, more detailed regional divisions, and stronger inter-community coordination.

Simultaneously, drawing from overseas experiences, a successful TNR program goes beyond “neutering and returning.” It should be a comprehensive management system that includes “catching, neutering, vaccination, returning, long-term monitoring, and adoption.” Making vaccination a mandatory part can directly enhance public health safety and increase the policy’s persuasiveness. Active adoption efforts, especially for gentle puppies or adult dogs discovered during the capture process, can directly reduce the number of strays and win broader public support for the program.

• The Path to Optimization: Building a Scientific, Humane, and Sustainable New Policy Framework
  
  Based on the above reflections, we believe that the phase results of the TNR trial should not be an endpoint but rather a starting point for a more scientific and improved stray animal management policy. We propose the following specific suggestions to the government and society:
  
  • Comprehensive review, public data release, and transition to “learning-based evaluation.” The government should fully disclose all data and analyses from this independent evaluation report, including specific calculations for changes in dog populations, classified analyses of complaints, and cost-effectiveness of investments. The purpose of the evaluation should not only be to “determine success or failure” but also to analyze “why expectations were not met,” identifying whether it was due to insufficient neutering rates, low community participation, or limitations in the evaluation methodology. This kind of honest and transparent attitude is fundamental to transforming social disputes into policy progress.
    
  • Revise goals, diversify designs, and implement “differentiated trials.” If future trials continue, they should abandon a “one-size-fits-all” standard for success. It is recommended to adopt a diversified indicator system, including not only overall numbers but also “regional neutering coverage rates,” “improvements in dog health status,” and “changes in the nature and frequency of human-dog conflict.” Additionally, differentiated implementation plans should be designed according to the different environments of the community (e.g., closed islands, rural villages, urban fringes) and should clearly integrate mandatory vaccination and proactive adoption processes in the new trials.
    
  • Legislation and education in parallel to consolidate “source reduction.” The success of any end-management measures ultimately depends on the power to control the root problems. We must proceed with a dual approach: on one hand, promote the amendment of laws to significantly increase penalties for abandoning animals and strengthen regulation of private breeding and pet sales to reduce the root causes of stray animals’ emergence. On the other hand, continue public education, promoting the idea of “lifelong responsibility” for pet ownership, and widely publicizing the benefits of neutering. The government may consider expanding subsidies for neutering household pets to encourage citizens to take the initiative in being responsible pet owners.

Conclusion

In 2018, standing at the endpoint of the TNR trial program’s cycle, we see not a dead end but a crossroads. One path leads back to the outdated and controversial “capture-kill” approach; the other embraces challenges, adopting a scientific spirit and pragmatic attitude to optimize methods, integrate resources, and explore a truly effective stray animal management pathway that respects life and fits Hong Kong’s realities.

We urge the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Legislative Council members, and all sectors of society to cherish the valuable data and lessons brought by this trial. Failure is the mother of success, and the key lies in whether we possess the courage and wisdom to learn from failure. Let us collectively promote a more comprehensive, humane, and forward-looking animal welfare policy, not only to manage the number of strays but also to shape a more empathetic and responsible character for our civilized society. This is not only a blessing for animals but also a litmus test for the overall level of civilization in Hong Kong society.