the movie is doing very well at the box office. The Lady pointed out that, a lot of people will be buying Labrador Retriever puppies from pet shops.
Most people in Hong Kong do not have the space for big dogs. Most people in Hong Kong do not have the time for highly intelligent dogs like the Labrador Retriever (they get bored and become miserable). Most local pet shops operate on questionable moral grounds. A lot of people in Hong Kong are irresponsible when it comes to pets (and to their offsprings for that matter).
Something we didn’t find out until we took Lily in. Most local breeders are in it purely for the money. As each puppy is worth at least a few thousand dollars, the idea is to reproduce as many as possible, so any bitch is used as a puppy-making machine irregardless of her suitability for reproduction. Local pedigree dogs have the problem of very close genetic makeup, so hereditary diseases are more likely to be prominent. Bad hip and eye problem are very common w/ Labs and Golden Retrievers. Skin problem is also common w/ a lot of the breeds. Reckless reproduction means a lot of suffering dogs.
Bad news.
4 responses so far ↓
1 James // Aug 25, 2004 at 11:29 am
Our next door neighbour bought a Golden Retreiver last year and it has become a huge pooch. Alec loves it when it is behind the gate but he was never in close touch with it.
One day, when Alec came out of the lift while it was at the lift door waiting to get in, as soon as it saw Alec, it jumped at Alec, put its hand on Alec’s shouders, and gave Alec a huge lick all over Alec’s entire face. Alec was so extremely in shock and pissed off at it, he ran into the house, took a shower while crying and yelling all at once for the duration of his shower. hehehe.
2 tin_the_fatty // Aug 25, 2004 at 1:02 pm
Golden Retrievers don’t calm down until 2-3 years of age, and until then they get excited easily.
In any case, dogs should never jump up at people. People get frightened, and the dog in turn gets frightened. Your neighbour’s dog seems to be poorly trained.
3 James // Aug 25, 2004 at 1:49 pm
Rather, no training at all I think; well, at least it doesn’t bite or crouch in front of us. Quite friendly actually.
Like you said, I wonder why people buy such big dogs living in apartments and condos. They stink up the hallway too.
Now, a cat would be nice…
4 PLang // Dec 8, 2004 at 4:27 am
I agree on several points.
1. Most ‘people’ don’t have enough time for their dogs.
2. A lot of people in Hong Kong are irresponsible pet owners.
3. Most local pet shops operate on questionable moral grounds.
What cannot be agreed on.
It is not the size of the home that is important. It is the amount and frequency of exercise the pet receives each day that is. If the prerequisite for owning a dog was to have spacious grounds 24 hours of the day, then only the very very rich handicapped people would have been allocated a guide/therapy/assistant dog – which obviously is not the case.
A dog with a large garden but no human or pet companionship and therefore no motivation nor need to get their exercise through fun is FAR worse off than one living in ‘apartments and condos’ that interact with their (responsible) owner/s and other dogs and get HOURS of daily exercise.
‘Most ‘local’ pet shops’ might be more accurately and fairly corrected to ‘Most pet shops in ‘the world’.
James, you liking a cat is fine by me – but to sum up your ‘contribution’ with ‘They stink up the hallway’, and ‘Now, a cat would be nice…’ is shallow, to say the least.