(HK) Taking action on stray dogs

[Guest guest]

South China Morning Post

 

2008-09-05

 

Taking action on stray dogs

 

I refer to the piece in Michael Chugani's Public Eye column about dogs in

public housing (Tenants in doghouse over pet requests, August 27).

 

Surely nobody can seriously think that because someone lives in subsidised

housing they should not be allowed to have a pet? How long has Chugani been

living in Hong Kong, anyway? Not long enough to notice the fancy cars that

are driven by such tenants, or to see that people who live in government

housing have perfectly respectable and well-paid jobs.

 

And if he doesn't want to step in something nasty, he might like to watch

where he's going instead of having his nose in the air, which it obviously

is.

 

On a more serious note, as long as the government continues to allow an

unrestricted number of pet shops to sell an unlimited number of puppies,

then there will continue to be too many dogs for too few homes and thousands

of dogs abandoned to become strays. I agree that nobody likes nuisance dogs,

but it is not the dogs' fault. Most people in Hong Kong simply don't have

the time to take care of a dog and every animal welfare group in the city

has been trying to get the government to do something about the oversupply

and to restrict and license the breeders, pet shops and imports of dogs.

 

When so many dogs are being officially destroyed every year (20,000 to

25,000) - and the taxpayer has to support this killing machine and the

fleets of dog catchers that roam the streets - why on Earth does the

government not do something to stop the supply? The answers and methods are

there: it just takes someone in the government to have the vision and

courage to do it. Sadly, that person doesn't seem to exist.

 

Sally Andersen, founder, Hong Kong Dog Rescue