A 51-year-old Hong Kong resident has been arrested for operating an illegal slaughterhouse in Yuen Long, where 150 live goats were discovered on a site with “extremely poor hygiene”.
Authorities said the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, in a joint operation with police on Thursday, raided a secluded, enclosed plot of land spanning Ngan Kam Road in the New Territories, following a tip-off that someone was selling mutton online and was suspected of illegally slaughtering goats for sale.
“The involved location was secluded, with an area of about 6,000 square meters (64,583 sq ft), and around 150 live goats were reared within it,” said Senior Health Inspector Juliana Ng Wing-in.
She added that the site was found with “extremely poor hygiene and rudimentary equipment, and that there were no qualified professionals present to inspect the livestock.”
Ng said during the raid, officers found activities consistent with illegal slaughtering and the sale of mutton, and believed the goats were bred from within the premises.
Around 52kg (114lbs) of mutton and offal of unknown origin, with an estimated market value of HK$30,000 (US$3,821), was seized and destroyed.
An additional 10kg of suspected illegally slaughtered mutton and offal was sealed for further investigation.
