Lawmakers on Monday said there is a need to update pet laws in Hong Kong, after a poll they conducted revealed that Hong Kong was not pet friendly enough.

The A4 Alliance, including legislators Scott Leung, Kitson Yang, Connie Lam and Gary Zhang, made the statement after conducting a two-month survey.

About 70 percent of the 700 respondents said the SAR can be more pet friendly, with about 85 percent of those polled saying there is a need to allow more pets in public places, in particular when it comes to taking public transport and eating at restaurants.

Kowloon City District Councillor Fun Cheung, who was presenting the results of the poll, noted that while efforts have been made to promote pet-friendly transportation – such as the MTR launching a scheme to allow dogs and cats to ride on the Light Rail in May – people want to see more animal-friendly measures.

"We would like to see in the future more [modes of] transportation, like buses and vehicles, [allowing pets, so] we can easily bring out pets to other places by public transportation," he said.

Additionally, he said the quarantine period for pets returning to the SAR after travelling on the mainland – currently at 120 days – should be shortened to 30 days.

"In the future if the period can be shortened, it can be easier for pet owners to bring their pets to other places. For example in mainland China, there're a lot of places that are so much better than Hong Kong's pet-friendly places."

The alliance also pointed out existing pet abuse laws need to be updated, and that the definition of what constitutes abuse should be clarified.