LettersHong Kong housing estate rules make it hard for dogs and their owners to have their day

Hong Kong needs a law to support the keeping of companion animals and regulations to ensure their welfare

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Public housing tenants take about 100 pets to the government headquarters in Admiralty, to protest against the Housing Authority’s ban on keeping pets in public housing estates in August 2003. Photo:

Published: 4:30pm, 6 Apr 2019Updated: 4:30pm, 6 Apr 2019

Why are dogs so detested in Hong Kong? I agree with Luisa Tam that it would be a better world if dogs are recognised as companions (“Time for China to realise that a dog is for life, not just for dinner”, March 18). The animosity displayed in many of the online comments in response to her article were loathsome. In Hong Kong, dogs are often banned from various spaces – perpetuating this hostile attitude towards dogs.

The eviction of dogs from good homes is being actively enforced by the authorities, despite the fact that the “no dogs allowed” clause in old Deeds of Mutual Covenant could be refuted if scientific evidence supporting the benefit of keeping them had to be taken into account. It should be a basic human right to keep a dog.

On my own estate, we had been allowed to keep dogs for 30 years. Then, suddenly, we were ordered to remove them, leaving owners distraught and with no recourse but to surrender or furtively hide their pets if they had no relatives willing to take them, moving elsewhere being difficult due to the current high rents and property prices. Dog owners were targeted, with some people determined to get rid of our dogs no matter what their age or disability.

They appear to be clueless about the repercussions of their actions on the happiness of others, and sadly, due to their prejudice, children are now deprived of ever experiencing the joy of having a dog become part of the family and elderly people have lost a beloved companion.

There needs to urgently be a law enacted which supports the keeping of companion animals, together with regulations to ensure their welfare. Ms Tam is right; we must “help to shift the general perception to see dogs not just as pets or property, but as living entities like family members, or our lifelong companions.” Only then would it be possible to rid ourselves of this archaic rule in our residential estates.

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Hong Kong needs a law to support the keeping of companion animals and regulations to ensure their welfare

Hong Kong needs a law to support the keeping of companion animals and regulations to ensure their welfare