Dogs - attitudes

[garyhk]

I would like to share 2 observations from the last 2 days:

1. A father, mother and child on entering a lift after a dog and owner exited - several complaints about smelly dogs and yet there was no hint of dog smell - could it be just bad attitude for the sake of adopting a negative feeling (I shall only passing reference to the screaming and heavy bashing of the lift buttons by the child...)

2. A dog owner walking his small dog suddenly thrashes the poor thing several times with its lead; I did not observe why but the beating was fairly continuous for about a minute - which is quite a long time and the dog was small.

Both situations left me feeling very uncomfortable.  Two questions:

A. Should I have challenged the nonsense about the fictitious dog smells and at the same time challenged the poor parenting attitudes of the destructive minor?  I have read elsewhere about these so called dog smells and have yet to experience them myself - are they perhaps just urban legend based on maybe one or two smelly canines?  No need to mention too much about the smelly humans one encounters form time to time.

B. Is it right to jump to conclusions about mistreatment of dogs when one only sees part of an incident BUT should I have challenged that owner no matter that I didn't see the whole thing?

I would welcome observations on '1', '2', 'A' and 'B' - if you don't mind.

Thanks

[Zorro]

I think no good can come from interfering with another persons action in HK. They just yell and scream. However I have over the years given about 4 or 5 people a dressing sown for mis treatment of their animals... yes all for the same reason, thrashing a dog that does not know why it is being thrashed..

[garyhk]

THANKS!!!

I must admit that was why I didn't intervene.  Previous to that another guy thrashed his dog when it went a bit loopy at my little bundle of four legged fur...  Dog owners do need educating but I am very wary of making a bad situation worse.  It is just rather painful to watch a human thrash a much smaller animal and as you say the poor dog won't know why it is being thrashed.  Generally, they follow the lead of humans and have lived amongst us for thousands of years and take their lead from us.  Perhaps I am a bit too sensitive...

[Poppet]

I witnessed this also and told the guy concerned, he didn't like it but i couldn't just ignore someone beating his dog with a rolled up newspaper. It was obvious the dog had not been trained in any way then the owner was beating it because it wasn't walking to heel etc. Not sure why some people have a dog at all....

[fieter]

I cant tell you how excited I get at these idiots who have dogs and dont train them - and then abuse them for not being trained. Your average Hong Konger is not fit to keep an animal. It pisses me off no end

[peregrin]

A sound thrashing should be administered both to the dog and the owner; especially to the owner who walked away from that steaming pile underneath the flyover this morning. Don't worry, mate, always someone to pick up your mutt's crap.

[garyhk]

I am sure you don't mean to include the dog in the thrashing; the poor animal has to toilet somewhere - it is the owner's responsibility to clear up afterwards - they are only animals - the dogs I mean..., they know no better.  The owners / handlers on the other hand definitely know better.

Did you not challenge the owner?  The answer lies in challenging these people when the act happens; doubt they read all this anyway.

[Poppet]

Ive noticed far more dog mess around lately it's a real shame. I've also noticed that more and more lazy dog owners take there dogs out on the estate grounds round towards the childrens play area near the underground car park entrance. I don't understand why they think this is OK when owners are clearly asked to take there dogs off the premises as soon as possible. Why is nothing done about this? I heard all sorts of promises about how they where gonna get tougher on pet owners who behaved badly but to date have seen no difference. Perhaps someone from the owners committee could enlighten us on what they are doing to improve things.

[garyhk]

I don't want to be contrarian but where exactly is all this dog mess located?  Whenever I am out and about around CC I don't see much of it at all.  I am intrigued to know where it all may be located?  It seems to be on a scale that is unmissable but so far I appear to have missed it.

Why can't dog owners take their little beasts around that part of the estate?  Is it that just taking the dogs there is a problem or is there another problem?  I think you are being a bit harsh.

Can I also suggest that if you see one of these lazy owners in the act of not cleaning up then challenge them there and then.  This forum is useful but it has its limits to affect behaviour; losing of face or direct challenge is a great way of dealing with such behaviour.

Just a suggestion.

[Poppet]

Garry both myself and my husband do challenge people when we see them letting there dogs foul but sadly this doesn't stop them doing it when they think no one is around or looking.

The Path on CS side under the underpass had at least 6 different places where the owner had walked away when i was down there two days ago. There was even some under the underpass when i returned yesterday from my walk.

Maybe you don't walk around the surrounding area much but i do on a daily basis for exercise so am maybe seeing it more but it doesn't change the fact that despite the whole lets educate these people that it hasn't worked. The area at the bottom of tower 15/16 still stinks of pee on a regular basis which is far from pleasant for us and prospective buyers.

I again ask what the OC is doing to rectify the issue?

[garyhk]

GREAT; I think challenging these selfish people is the best way forward.  Obviously, this can only be done if we see bad behaviour.

I do use that area, and I have noticed some smell sometimes; have not really noticed poo mountains though.

I think we should bear in mind that this sort of selfish, bad behaviour happens everywhere.  I have lived in many parts of Hong Kong as well as various parts of the UK and I have to say that CC is pretty much one of the best places to live - even considering this issue.  This is only one area of bad human behaviour; being considerate towards our neighbours appears not to be a priority for everyone.  So, I think remembering context is always good.

Now, what do we want the OC to do?  Police bad behaviour by owners?  Redeploy the security guards to this sort of activity?  It might be worth a try.  Are there any other suggestions?

This forum is very useful for airing opinions; it seems to have limitations in turning these airings into concrete activity.  This is normal human behaviour I suppose.  It is up to those of us that care to do something.  In my own small way, I can say that I have challenged and engaged with others.  We must recognise, though, that there will always be people who wish to act selfishly - not much that can be done about that.

In my humble opinion, this is a somewhat minor albeit irritating problem in a place that is really a great place to live in.  Don't get me wrong, I am not saying do nothing.  As I have already stated, engagement with people directly may well be the best way to change behaviour.  Yes, it will take a long time, but peer pressure is the sanest and safest methodology. 

Just my opinion; would love to have more comments, especially from those who dislike dogs.

Cheers.