Guest guest Posted July 19, 2003 Report Share Posted July 19, 2003 South China Morning Post http://hongkong.scmp.com/hknews/ZZZ4B687THD.html Saturday, July 19, 2003 by ELAINE WU Dogs got an outing when their owners joined the protest against the enforcement of the ban on animals in public estates. Picture by Ricky Chung. Lucky Boy is a two-year-old schnauzer who had never been outside his apartment for a walk - until yesterday. In a show of " animal power " , he joined about 100 dogs, parrots, cats and rabbits who stood their ground in front of the Central Government Offices barking and sniffing in protest against stricter enforcement of the no-pet policy at public housing estates. More than 2,000 human friends also attended. And like the mass rally on July 1, the government was forced to back down, at least for now. The Housing Authority has postponed the enforcement date by two months to October 1, after which pet owners will have to dispose of their animals or face eviction if they accrue too many demerit points for ignoring the ban. Current rules only allow for a fish tank and one or two caged birds. Some dogs wore a sign around their necks that read: " Please let me live. Thank you. " Lucky Boy's owner, Choi May-yuk, took a day off from her job at a pet shop to attend the protest. Ms Choi, who is in her 40s, has lived in public housing all her life. She adopted Lucky Boy when he was a pup and also has a cat that she took in from the streets. " Some people already have abandoned dogs in my estate. I've seen a dalmatian and a shih-tzu wandering around, " she said. " We know we are not supposed to keep pets. But officials should give the dogs a chance to live and pet owners a chance to change. The least the government can do is let me keep the dog until he dies. " Twelve animal welfare groups organised the protest yesterday to demand that the Housing Authority allow pet owners to keep their animals until they die of natural causes. They also proposed a pet-registration system. " We just think it's so wrong that just because a few people are irresponsible pet owners, now everyone has to suffer, " said Pauline Taylor, deputy executive director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. " We don't want the government to kill animals. Everybody is here because they are concerned about animals. " The protesters assembled at the entrance to the Citibank Tower before marching to the government headquarters. As they waited to begin the march, photographers and protesters crowded around a Yorkshire terrier that barked on command. The crowd roared and clapped following each bark. " Even the dog is protesting, " one observer noted. elaine.wu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.