Animal abuse charges withdrawn against former Miss Hong Kong's sister

The elder sister of Miss Hong Kong, Carmaney Wong Ka-man, saw her conviction of abusing an animal withdrawn in the High Court today, before which she was accused of putting a cat into a running washing machine and sentenced to 80 hours of community service for her crime.  

Yuki Wong Yee-ting, the 28-year-old insurance agent, was convicted of abusing a cat in a residential flat on February 7 last year after she uploaded a 14-second video clip on her Instagram in which a cat was put into an empty, spinning washing machine with a caption saying the action was a "mischief".  

Wong was on trial at Tuen Mun Magistrates' Courts on February 21 this year and was convicted of treating an animal cruelly.  

She later filed an appeal against the judgment to the High Court, claiming she was not the person who put the cat into the washing machine nor started the machine, but one of her friends named Yan, who had left Hong Kong last year and failed to show up to testify in court.  

Judge Albert Wong Sung-hau ruled that Wong’s appeal was granted in the High Court on Tuesday afternoon, as well as withdrawing her conviction and sentence.  

"The prosecution needs to prove that the defendant, Wong, was the person who put the cat into the washing machine and whether the video clip of the incident was admissible to be evidence," the judge said.  

"The court has to find the defendant not guilty if it is not her who made the video and started the washing machine," said the judge, noting the conviction and sentence were hereby retracted.