“So we anticipate that after six months to a year, the abandonment of lizards will increase significantly as the Year of the Dragon passes and the Year of the Snake [comes].”
But 4 reptile shops in Mong Kok informed the Post on Wednesday that that they had not observed a specific improve in lizard gross sales across the Lunar New Year vacation.
“After the pandemic, the sales situation has been poor,” stated Raymond Wong, an worker at pet retailer Exotic Creatures. “Reptiles are not easy to care for, particularly chameleons.”
Wong stated maintaining reptiles required costly tools and that that they had particular environmental calls for.
Animal welfare teams stated that they had seen a pointy improve within the variety of inquiries about taking in rabbits in recent months.
They attributed the issue to the top of curiosity generated by the zodiac animal final 12 months and the pattern in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic to purchase pets as individuals labored from home.
Charity Tolobunny stated it had fielded greater than 250 inquiries about taking in rabbits within the first 10 months of final 12 months and about 60 in November and December.
It stated it had taken in 178 undesirable rabbits final 12 months and logged almost 50 inquiries about rehoming them for the reason that begin of 2024.
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A spokeswoman stated the calls largely concerned young rabbits, with an age vary from three months to 18 months, and most of them had solely been stored as pets for lower than a 12 months.
“They were highly likely to have been bought by owners around the time of the [last] Lunar New Year,” she stated.
“But they may find rabbits too difficult to look after later, so they decided to abandon them.”
She added that from round final June, Tolobunny took calls day by day from individuals who not needed their pets, though up to now just one such inquiry was recorded each two to a few days.
“Many people are impulsive in keeping pets,” the Tolobunny spokeswoman stated. “They find them cute, and it is convenient to purchase the animals.
“However, they often fail to be aware that each animal has its own characteristics and specific care requirements.
“Eventually, they may realise they lack the ability to properly care for the pet.”
She added that rabbits wanted to eat on a regular basis, which meant they pooped lots and their residing areas required common cleansing.
The spokeswoman stated vet bills may be comparatively excessive and that potential house owners wanted to grasp and be ready for potential issues earlier than they determined to maintain a pet rabbit.
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Shirley Tong Nga-yin, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Rabbit Society, stated aside from the surge in possession in the course of the Year of the Rabbit, the rising variety of the animals being deserted may be all the way down to a rise within the shopping for of the pets over the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022.
“Many people found rabbits cute and bought them for their children,” Tong stated. “Some adults who needed to work from home during the pandemic would also purchase rabbits to help kill the time.
“But they could soon come up with the thought of abandoning them after keeping the animals for a short period of time.”
Tong added that, as the town went again to regular life final 12 months and other people returned to commuting and work in places of work, some house owners stated that they had “no time for caring”.
She stated the society had already hit its most of 100 rabbits in care and that there have been 30 others on a ready checklist, which might stretch out to a 12 months.
The story was the identical at different animal care organisations.
The Hong Kong Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals stated it had taken in 45 rabbits from the beginning of February 2023 to February 9 this 12 months, however couldn’t instantly give numbers for earlier years.
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department figures confirmed that 24 rabbits have been surrendered by their house owners final 12 months, a leap from six in 2022 and 4 in 2021.
