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Well-planned and willing to spend, incidental fee to a pet relocation In recent years, many Hong Kong
Nicole Li* and her family left Hong agency. people are leaving the city. Some
Kong and moved to Britain with choose to or are forced to abandon
Bailey, a two-year-old corgi.. “ their pets.

It was not easy for According to the Census and
Statistics Department, the city’s
sure, but I treat population fell from 7.52 million
to 7.29 million from the end of
Bailey as my child, 2019 to mid-2022.

we are glad that she A survey conducted by the Hong
Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific
came here with us. Studies of the Chinese University

” of Hong Kong in 2022 indicated
that, among 705 interviewees aged
Bailey moved to London, Brit- 18-year-old or above, 28.4 per
ain in August 2022.
cent intended to emigrate and the
Having settled happily since “Honestly, it would be quite top push factor was the “excessive
August 2022, Li noted the family stressful if we didn’t find the political disputes or unstable
began finding ways to leave with agency,” she says. politics”.
their dearest pet once her husband
successfully secured a job transfer The agency provided the family “
within his company from Hong with vet visits and helped arrange
Kong to Britain in late 2021. a Cathay Pacific direct flight for I will always call
Bailey, and most importantly,
“Due to the rapid changes in got the signed health certificate Bailey as ‘he’ not ‘it’,
politics, economics and even from the Agricultural, Fisheries he is our family, so
the education system in Hong and Conservation Department
Kong in recent years, there were (AFCD). do other pets deserve
many uncertainties we saw when
planning our future,” Li says, Li points out that if a pet owner can to be treated like.
adding the family insisted on do every single procedure on his or
leaving Hong Kong together with her own, the cost can be just one- ”
Bailey. third of hers.
The Society for the Prevention of
Noting that pet emigration involves “I truly understand the difficulties Cruelty to Animals notes it has seen
lots of procedures and documents of emigrating a pet, especially the an increase in pet abandonment
and the family was busy with work divergence in opinions among cases amid the recent emigration
at that time, Li says it is worth family members,” Li says, adding wave.
paying HKD$66,000 (USD$8,435) that pet owners should try every
and several thousand dollars of means to emigrate with their pets. “In 2020/2021 alone, we received