Hong Kong monastery suspends kitchen staff suspected of kidnapping, abandoning 2 dogs
- Protest organised by animal rights activists to demand apology from Po Lin Monastery over alleged mistreatment is cancelled last minute
A Buddhist monastery on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island has suspended kitchen workers suspected of kidnapping and abandoning two dogs, while a protest against the alleged mistreatment was cancelled at the last minute.
The pair of female mongrels have been missing for a week, prompting people to offer rewards for information over the past few days.
In an online post on Tuesday evening, Po Lin Monastery said staff members involved in the incident had already been suspended and were banned from returning to the temple.
The employees are believed to be the two male kitchen workers arrested by police on Saturday.
The dogs, known as “Dai Mui” and “Sai Mui” – meaning “big sister” and “little sister” in Chinese – are brown-and-black mongrels.
An internet user had claimed the staff had wrapped the heads of the canines with plastic bags and abandoned them on a hill last Tuesday.
The monastery said it had immediately dispatched staff to conduct a search and put up notices to enlist local residents’ help, but the dogs had yet to be found.
