A delivery worker pleaded guilty to one count of cruelty to animals in a Kwun Tong Magistrate’s Court on Thursday after he had left his Pomeranian locked in a car at an outdoor carpark for nearly six hours on a hot sunny day in December last year.
Police and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) broke the window to rescue the distressed Pomeranian after a passer-by saw the dog panting heavily and becoming very sick on December 9, last year. A 2cm gap had been left in one window of the car.
The 51-year-old delivery worker told the court he was in a rush to get to work that day, forgetting to leave food and water for his dog as usual when he parked the car at 8am in an outdoor carpark of Shui Long Wo on Sai Sha Road in Sai Kung.
A passer-by saw the dog in the car but believed the owner would return shortly, Sing Tao Daily reported. But the same passer-by saw the dog in the same car at 1.30pm.
Principal Magistrate Ernest Lin criticized the defendant, who left an unpeeled banana in the car and believed that his dog would know how to eat it. Lin also said the defendant might be banned from keeping a pet in future. The prosecutor has filed an application for the Pomeranian to remain at an SPCA center, Apple Daily reported.
The defendant’s sentencing hearing would be on July 28, pending further reports on the suitability of a community service order.