Animal rights activists protest HKTVmall’s parent firm over animal experimentation projects

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Asia, an international animal rights group, staged a protest outside HKTVmall’s parent company in Tseung Kwan O on Friday, demanding the firm halt all animal experiments linked to its life sciences project.

According to Hong Kong Technology Venture Company’s 2025 annual report, the firm has  conducted 38 animal experiments since 2022 to keep organs – including heads and limbs – for extended periods after removal, aiming to develop new technology for long-term human organ preservation.

The organisation called on HKTV to adopt non-animal testing alternatives and urged the public to boycott its product over what it described as animal cruelty.

Four protestors who dressed in bloodstained clothes and wore pig and lamb masks stayed in a “pool of blood” outside the headquarters of HKTVmall for about an hour from noon.

Jackie Tang, the campaigner and social media coordinator of PETA Asia said such visuals expose the “bloody reality” of animal testing.

He said HKTV has been experimenting with “zero transparency,” as there is no way to oversee how the experiments were conducted, nor any indication that ethical alternatives were considered or how many animals were killed.

“They claim that there is no cruelty involved, saying the animals are killed after being put into amnesia and decapitated, but they are still sentient beings, they feel terror and pain,” he said.

Louis Ng Wai-mei, an advocate who represented Animal Rights Education by Non-profit Making Veterinary Services Society, said medical techniques and drugs used today were undeniably developed through animal testing.

But she argued that scientific progress does not necessarily rely on animal testing.

“Scientific and technological progress comes from challenging outdated practices and striving for better,” Ng said.

She hopes that animal testing will eventually be abolished.

HKTV has invested over HK$44.5 million in this project since 2021, according to the company’s annual report.

In response to The Young Reporter, the company said it has actively explored alternative experimental methods but noted that “as the project involves surgical experiments, no other methods can currently fully replace animal testing.”

“The Group fully understands the public’s concern regarding the use of animal tissues in our life sciences projects,” it said in a statement.

“We have always been committed to maintaining the highest standards of animal welfare,” the company said.

The company’s reply stated that it will continue to closely monitor and actively explore the feasibility of applying alternative experimental technologies to this project.

According to the company’s report, the experiments involve two research teams operating in two undisclosed countries, with more than 20 doctors, professors, and researchers participating.

The research teams found that detached limbs could remain active for about 46 hours, while detached heads stayed functional for around seven hours under electrical and brain activity tests.

The teams described the findings as the first of their kind globally, it stated.