Sixteen pets including a cat, several chinchillas and a rabbit died after apparently being thrown from a high-rise residential building in Hong Kong, sparking a police investigation.
They were among 24 animals — 14 chinchillas, six cats, a rabbit, a guinea pig, a parrot and an unidentified rodent — believed to have been hurled from block 19 of the private Hong Kong Garden housing estate near Sham Tseng in the New Territories.
A security guard at the estate made the grim find and called police at about 1pm on Friday, saying there were a number of dead animals lying on a slope.
Officers arrived and found either dead or severely injured animals scattered around on the ground and in a ditch next to the building. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty (SPA) to Animals was alerted.
SPCA officers confirmed a cat, rabbit, nine chinchillas, the guinea pig, the rodent and the parrot were dead.
The injured one, five cats and five chinchillas, were taken to the SPCA's veterinary clinic in Wan Chai. However, one of the cats and a chinchilla never survived.
A spokeswoman said the 16 carcasses would be passed on to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department for examination.
A police spokesman said a district investigation team in Tsuen Wan was on the case. There have been no arrests.