A 62-year-old security guard was remanded in custody on Thursday after pleading guilty to animal cruelty for putting a missing cat in a plastic bag and dumping it into a rubbish bin.
The defendant, Chou Wing-lok, admitted at Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts this morning to unreasonably doing or omitting to do an act that caused unnecessary suffering to the cat in Ngau Tau Kok on August 6 last year.
The court heard that Chou was working the night shift as a security guard at Lee Kee Building. The cat's owner, who is also a resident of the building, posted lost-cat notices on August 7 after the pet slipped out during a rubbish run the previous evening.
A neighbour's review of security camera footage revealed that the cat had entered another unit on the same floor on the evening of August 6.
The footage later showed Chou entering that apartment with a black plastic bag and leaving with the bag knotted. He did not consult any of the residents during this time.
The owner later learned from the security supervisor that Chou had resigned and reported the incident to police.
Under police caution, Chou claimed he had asked other residents about the cat but received no reply. He asserted that the cat was already unresponsive when he found it.
Calling the situation "troublesome," he admitted putting the cat in a bag and throwing it away in an open-top rubbish bin but could not recall if the bag was tied.
As the rubbish bin had been emptied, the cat had not been recovered.
Magistrate Betty Lau Suk-han ordered a comprehensive background report and remanded the defendant in custody until his next sentencing hearing on July 30.
