A young cyclist who died after a suspected canine attack in Hong Kong earlier this month was likely bitten on the neck by several dogs, but government forensic pathologists fear it may ultimately be impossible to determine which exact animals were involved, the South China Morning Post has learned.
The SCMP has learned that the victim was Fairview Park resident Eva Chu, who was found on Pok Wai South Road near Nam Sang Wai at 12.42am on September 20.
CCTV footage showed that three dogs chased the 27-year-old woman along the road while she was riding a shared bicycle about 30 metres (98 feet) from where she was discovered near a Drainage Services Department sewage pumping station.
Chu, who worked as a background music operator, was taken to Pok Oi Hospital in Yuen Long and pronounced dead.
Police said she suffered lacerations to her head, face, neck, arms and legs, with the wounds to her head and neck believed to have been fatal.
A source told the SCMP on Tuesday that government forensic pathologists had initially determined that the victim was highly likely to have died after being bitten on the neck by several dogs, with injuries to her windpipe believed to be among the fatal wounds.
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and police conducted operations to capture stray dogs in the area following the incident.
Eight dogs were caught, three of which were microchipped.
Investigators were examining whether any of the eight mongrels, as well as nearly 20 warehouse guard dogs found in the vicinity, carried the victim’s DNA, the source said.
Authorities had been trying to identify the animals involved by comparing bite marks on the woman’s body with the teeth of the captured dogs, the SCMP learned.
The results will be submitted to the Coroner’s Court, which will decide whether an inquest should be held.
However, the SCMP learned that drawing definitive conclusions from the test results would be challenging.
“It may ultimately be impossible to determine which dog, or dogs, were responsible,” an insider said.
“Similar situations have occurred in other countries. Nonetheless, experts from various fields are determined to try their best and will exhaust all possible means.”
One of the three microchipped dogs captured was registered in the name of an animal welfare activist, who was later charged with failing to keep one of them under proper control and keeping a dog with an expired licence.
But the activist, Kent Luk Ka-chit, founder of the animal rescue group Paws Guardian Rescue Shelter, who has microchipped many stray dogs to prevent them from being euthanised, told the SCMP that the 13-year-old mongrel in question was not responsible because it was exceptionally gentle and could only walk very slowly.
April Yip, founder of Home for Homeless Dogs, also said that many volunteers chose to register as keepers of stray dogs so they could get the animals neutered.
She urged authorities to exempt these volunteers from prosecution.
“We are simply trying to help solve a community issue, so why can’t an exemption be granted?” she said.
However, Luk explained that granting such exemptions would be difficult, saying: “It will be extremely chaotic because anyone can claim to be a volunteer, yet there is no official recognition.”-- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
