Man arrested after mistaking hamster for mouse, killing it with slipper

A 50-year-old man was arrested Friday afternoon for animal abuse for killing a hamster he thought was a mouse with a slipper in Sham Shui Po. 

According to a female pedestrian named Wong, she saw an injured hamster running around at Willow House in So Uk Estate around noon and planned to catch it to hand it over to the relevant animal care group. She later changed her mind after her family told her to seek help from the security guard first.

As Wong was reaching out to a security guard, she suddenly heard a loud smack from behind. She turned back only to see that a man with a slipper in one hand had killed the hamster. 

Wong was surprised and angrily asked the man why he killed the hamster. “It’s just a mouse!” the man replied. 

Wong provoked, then tailed the man, found he unlocked the door with his fingerprint, and entered Cedar House, suspecting that the man was a janitor. 

Police arrived after Wong filed a report. After an investigation, officers arrested the 50-year-old man named Lee on suspicion of animal cruelty.

Staffers from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals later came to assist the police investigation. 

The case is now handled by the Sham Shui Po district crime investigation team.