(HK) Animal Welfare

[Guest guest]

South China Morning Post

Continuing Education 2008-03-01

 

Animal Welfare

 

 

More pet owners understand the need to care for their animals

 

The urgent need for trained veterinary nurses is being driven by an

extraordinary evolution in people's attitudes to animals that has, in the

space of a decade, transformed Hong Kong into a city of pet lovers.

 

At the time of the handover, there were only 50 to 60 small animal

veterinarians in Hong Kong. Now there are an estimated 500 as more and more

people keep cats, dogs and other mostly small animals as pets.

 

The factors driving the boom are both social and economic. " If you look at

the birth rate, people today are keeping pets more than having babies, " said

Thomas Wong Kwok-shing, dean of Polytechnic University's faculty of health

and social sciences. " The way veterinary clinics have proliferated is almost

unbelievable. "

 

Hong Kong's birth rate of less than one child per woman is now among the

lowest in the world and Professor Wong believed couples with one or no

children were factors in the trend towards pets.

 

" A lot of parents feel if they have one child, they want that child to be

accompanied by something other than a domestic helper, " he said. " A pet is a

good way to give them that company. "

 

Animal welfare groups have expressed concerns that pets are too often being

kept in high-rise apartment blocks by working couples and not exercised

enough, but Professor Wong argued that knowledge of welfare issues was

gradually improving.

 

" People do keep animals in small apartments, but they have no children at

home, " he said. " Other people are moving out to the New Territories and

looking for places where they can keep pets.

 

" Prices in the New Territories are going up because more and more people

want to move there and keep pets. "

 

Some less obvious animals are being taken in as pets, Professor Wong said.

" Before it was only cats and dogs. Now we are seeing animals such as

chinchillas and lots of hamsters and other small animals are being taken to

veterinary clinics.

 

" All of this is partly related to the economy of Hong Kong. The economy has

picked up and people can afford to look after their animals' health and

well-being better.

 

" I anticipate there will be increasing demand. If you look at the coastal

cities in China, there has been an enormous increase in the number of people

keeping pets. It is going to become more and more a part of our lives to

have a pet as a companion in the years ahead. "

 

Professor Colin Howard, vice-principal of the Royal Veterinary College,

said: " The growth of pet ownership in major cities in Greater China is

quadrupling over each three-year period.

 

" There are two reasons for this: One is the single-child policy means there

are an increasing number of elderly people looking for companionship through

animals. Secondly, it is regarded as a social symbol of success to keep a

pet.

 

" It is quite obvious to me the whole issue of animal welfare is getting far

greater prominence. I have been staying in Hong Kong for extended periods

over the past two years and it is quite clear to me that the concern among

the general public over the welfare of animals is increasing. "