(CN-HK) Pet-mad Hong Kong fertile ground for pooch pampering

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Pet-mad Hong Kong fertile ground for pooch pampering services

5 days ago

 

HONG KONG (AFP) — The latest bakery to open in one of Hong Kong's prime

residential areas, Happy Valley, is perfectly positioned to catch passing trade.

 

The gleaming counter displays mouth-watering pastries, cookies and cakes as the

smell of food lovingly prepared by resident chef David wafts from the giant

ovens into the street.

 

But the target customers of this particular bakery, even the biggest, cannot

always see the goodies on the shelves -- although their barking indicates they

can definitely smell them.

 

Three Dog Bakery is the latest effort to provide a further level of pampering

for Hong Kong's four-legged friends in this pet-mad city.

 

Most of Hong Kong's seven million people live in tiny cramped apartments and

dogs are banned from many city parks but nevertheless the animals have become a

must-have accessory and are treated accordingly.

 

" People consider their dogs as an extra member of the family, " said Brent

Earles, general manager of Three Dog Bakery, which is an international franchise

based in the United States.

 

" If your dog is your companion or surrogate child there are people who will go

and spend a lot of money on their dogs. "

 

The range of options is endless. Around Hong Kong dogs are dressed in elaborate

costumes, expensive collars and even pushed around in strollers if walking gets

a bit too much for them.

 

Every week, TV programmes show elaborate and expensive ways to spoil dogs -- and

this is where Three Dog Bakery comes in with its extensive range of exclusive

items ranging from 350-US-dollar blankets to fluffy toys shaped like expensive

shoes and embossed with the names " Jimmy Chew " and " Vera Wag " .

 

" I have to laugh sometimes -- they are ridiculous items for pets. There is a

certain whimsy about the whole thing, but we do it for the love of animals, "

said Earles.

 

Owners of the new Three Dogs Bakery are hoping to repeat in Hong Kong the

phenomenal success of their outlets in Japan.

 

The chain now has eight stores in Japan, having opened its first eight years

ago, and Japanese dog owners and their pets regularly queue outside them.

 

Clement Lo, who runs Hong Kong's Three Dog Bakery, expects to have a similar

impact here. He is opening a second store in the territory at the same time and

believes the city's 200,000 registered " loved ones " will create enough of a

market for five.

 

He says he has already been approached by a city restaurant to provide special

dog dinners and one of casino billionaire Stanley Ho's relatives has visited the

new store with an eye to setting up a franchise in the nearby gambling centre of

Macau.

 

Peter de Krassel, a director of the Pets Central chain in the city, says the

demand for pet-pampering has rocketed in recent years.

 

" The number of dogs registered has doubled over the past five years, " said de

Krassel, who says he wants to list his company in London in 2009.

 

" You have a lot of young professional couples who are choosing to have pets

instead of children and you have a lot of empty-nesters, " he added.

 

He says the potential market in Hong Kong and mainland China is huge, and he is

looking to expand into Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai -- despite the fact that

dog meat is still eaten many parts of China.

 

De Krassel said some high-earning pet owners in China regularly fly their pets

to the United States for medical treatment.

 

And in Hong Kong, the growing number of pet owners appear to constitute a

powerful lobby group, with politicians taking on their concerns. Chairman of the

city's Democratic Party and dog owner Albert Ho joined a recent protest to

demand tougher action on animal abuse.

 

But the rapid expansion of the market here has created some tensions. De Krassel

was recently forced to shut down his Pet Parents' Café by health inspectors

following a complaint that it breached regulations by having dogs in the

vicinity of food for humans. He is appealing the closure.

 

Despite, and perhaps because of, the pet boon, Hong Kong does suffer a large

number of pet abuse cases.

 

Packs of wild dogs roam some of the more remote parts of the territory, having

been abandoned by their owners. Police handled 41 abuse cases between January

and September last year, according to the South China Morning Post.

 

But the most sinister anti-pet backlash remains the city's mysterious " Bowen

Road poisoner " who has allegedly killed dozens of pets in the past two decades.

 

The killer, who has never been caught, leaves pieces of meat injected with

poison at the side of a tree-lined street popular with dog walkers.

 

Despite police appeals and offers of a reward, the killer remains at large.

 

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