housing

Reading comprehension

Answer the following questions:

1 Who won a court case over his right to keep a dog in his flat in 2008?

a. a tenant of a public housing estate

b. an HOS owner

c. a Mei Foo Sun Chuen resident

d. a Lok Nga Court resident

2 Which of the following descriptions about HOS owner Bertha Lau is correct?

a. She has received complaints about her poodle.

b. She was shocked when her estate management told her she had to move out because of her dog.

c. She believes residents should be allowed to keep pets as long as they do not disturb others.

d. She believes rules on keeping pets are clear enough in HOS estates.

3 Animal group Stop - save HK's Cats and Dogs has over the past year received an increasing number of enquiries. What are the enquiries about?

a. whether public housing tenants can keep pets

b. whether HOS residents should take legal action against a ban on pets in their housing estates

c. whether HOS residents can keep pets

d. whether estate notices contradict management rules

4 Which group of people often visit Peter Tsang's pet shop?

a. members of home owner groups

b. representatives of property management companies

c. legal executives dealing with cases of keeping pets in HOS estates

d. dog owners who have been asked by estate management to remove their pets

Think about

1 What problems have different rules on keeping pets caused among housing estate residents?

2 Do you think keeping pets is a flat owner's right?

3 Are there any circumstances under which home owners should not keep pets?

4 What would happen to the hundreds of thousands of pets in housing estates if there was a complete ban? And what would be the effect on the city?

Follow-up activities

1 Conduct a study on your classmates who live in HOS flats. Find out how many of them have a pet, and their estates' rules on keeping pets.

2 Look up information on protests against the restriction on pets in housing estates enforced in 1996. Is the current situation different?

3 Debate: HOS owners should be allowed to keep dogs.

Answers:

March 18

Reading comprehension: 1. b, 2. b, 3. c, 4. d