Dog Owning = Chinese Culture ??

Excerpts from Bernama:

• The Malaysians-Against-the-Neighbour's Dog-Disturbance Ad hoc Action Committee has dismissed claims that keeping dogs as pets is a Chinese tradition
• "If it were a Chinese tradition (culture), why does the Republic of China have laws that prohibit dog ownership in Beijing, and for dogs in Shanghai it is compulsory for them to have an operation on their vocal cords," said the committee chairman, who wants only to be known as "Low"
• he once again reasserted his plea to all state governments to strictly enforce the Dog Ownership Act to stop the nuisance and disturbance to human beings, at the same time increasing integration, unity and harmony between the races
• Low considers dogs a nuisance because of the barking and howling at all times of the day and night, especially in the mating season, and this bothers the neighbours and disrupts students' concentration, as when a child is trying to do his or her homework for school the next day
• Low salutes Prophet Muhammad because he forbade his followers from touching dogs, and with good reason too; there is a disease spread by lice that carry a virus which is terribly hard to get rid of, and these lice live on dogs
• he urged all dogs, of all breeds - pure-breds, cross-breeds, and non-breeds - to be carefully registered and kept in control via the Act, and any dogs not taken into this process must be caught and put down, whilst owners should face severe charges
• The fees for dog permits must also be given a hike to ensure the prospective owners are responsible enough to be given the duty of keeping a dog
• dogs should be kept in a sound proof dog house and most certainly should not be allowed to roam around the neighbourhood and public places where they are not only a nuisance but a danger and a threat to the well being of humans in the area

Let me relate my experience in having dogs as pet. Throughout my life, I have had the opportunity of having 4 dogs as my family's pet.

The first two dogs was given to my mother by her friend. They have nice blonde hair and very smart looks. One of them (the junior one) went out and did not came back one day. Our whole family went out looking for them for a whole evening to no avail. Finally we gave up as someone might have taken custody of it (it was a nice breed).

The other dog ("Lassie") was with us for almost 6-7 years. Throughout the time it was with us, it met with accidents, chased thieves away and kept our family at peace during the night. It did not barked non-stop or bitten anyone that comes to our house. Only one fine morning came, when we discovered that it went missing for almost an hour (which it normally don't). We went out to search for it and found it at our neighbour's place (who was good enough to let it into his corner house with a small green area with soft grass). However, we only discovered that it has already passed on. My family grieved (my mother actually cried for almost a day) for our dog for almost a week after we buried it in the garden area of our house.

It is true then, "Dogs do not wanna die at their owner's home".

We never had dogs as our pet for almost another 15 years until a cute little black puppy (should be less than 1 week old) came wandering in front of our front gate looking hungry and cold. I took out some left-over food to feed it and later decide to keep it as our new pet ("Lucky"). Two years has passed since we had lucky. I must admit that Lucky has a hard time adjusting to being a pet where it barked a bit at night and to strangers walking by. However, it finally settled down after a week or so.

Recently, another puppy was lying below my car (almost as old as Lucky when I found him). I decided to take it in again as our pet and named it "Lovely". "Lovely" also go through the same adjustment period as "Lucky" and finally settled down.

Contrary to what "Low" mentioned about disease that dogs bring. My son (who is few months old) has been around our 2 pets all the time and he is fine with them. I must also mention that we do not keep pets in our house per se but at the porch area. Any time my son goes crying for no reason, pointing him to our pet dogs will stop his crying instantly and start laughing as he watches the dogs chase over one another for fun.

Hence, from my experience, you might be able to see that having a dog as pet does not necessary has something to do with religion or culture. To my family, having pets (whatever they may be) is another way of showing compassion towards all living beings. Our neighbourhood is much safer because quite a number of people have dogs as their pet. No one has been bitten as a result of that for the past 20 years. We all hold legal dog permits but we don't think we can afford any sound-proof dog house if there is one (our dogs just sleep under the car).

For the authorities who are making the rules, please do not make any hasty decision based on the arguments of a single group. Do gather all the facts and listen to all sides of the story before you decide what to do.