This is the second (of three) Daily Vet articles I’m writing during my recent tour of the Far East. In case you missed it, check out my first article: Diagnosing and Treating Canine Dry Eye in a Third World Country

I recently had the opportunity travel to Hong Kong to compare some of the city’s cultural differences regarding pet practices and to learn of the amazing work the Hong Kong SPCA is doing to promote animal health and welfare.

As an immensely built and crowded city, I wondered how there would be room for a canine companion in Hong Kong dwellers’ lives. After all, the Pearl of the Orient (Hong Kong’s nickname) is home to some of the world’s tallest buildings (like the 112 story International Commerce Centre), tiniest apartments, and overall apparent lack of readily accessible green space in which canine companions can frolic.

As a tourist, I took pleasure navigating downtown Hong Kong and Kowloon peninsula from the open air second level of the Big Bus and was struck by the overall lack of apparent dogs and cats roaming the city streets.

To get some fresh air, I escaped the virtual sense of tower-induced claustrophobia to the vast greenery atop Victoria Peak. From this remarkable vantage point, one gets an amazing view from higher than the tallest skyscrapers lurking below.

From that vantage, I discovered an interesting means of demarcating where a pet should eliminate waste, which reminded me of similar setups seen in airports in the United States. The retail section of Victoria Peak had two dog relief areas. One was delineated by a single strip of green tape on granite pavers. The other featured a plastic sheet of fake grass (not astroturf, but a layer of plastic made to look like grass). Both displayed bright green and yellow signs indicating the areas’ purpose: Rest Area for Pets.

There was nary a smell of urine nor a stain of feces in either site, so I wonder how well dogs recognize that these elimination areas serve such a purpose. Likely, the scents of the previous users provides the attraction. I saw two well cared for dogs (a blonde Cocker Spaniel and a black and tan Shepherd mix), but neither were available for comment as to their preferred locations for waste elimination.

While prepping to take the tram down from Victoria Peak, I spotted a Gino’s Gelato sign selling Doggie Gelato. Beef and cheese flavors were available, with eight of the $18 per scoop price reportedly going to help homeless dogs. One American dollar currently equals $7.76 Hong Kong dollars, so we’re talking about a scoop of Doggie Gelato costing $2.32 American dollars with $1.03 benefitting animals.

The next day, our trip had a more businesslike purpose, with a tour of the Hong Kong SPCA and a meeting with Dr. Jane Gray, Deputy Director of Services and Chief Veterinary Surgeon. As I am currently developing a television project based on international travel and veterinary philanthropy, it was a great honor to meet Dr. Gray and learn of the population and disease control and educational efforts of her organization.

I am especially intrigued by the SPCA's Animal Welfare Mobile Clinic, which sends veterinary practitioners into remote areas of Hong Kong and mainland China to help dogs and cats that otherwise lack access to routine veterinary care.

i Love Dogs canine supplements arranged for my tour of the SPCA’s sparkling clean facilities, which included a retail area (which even sells some products steeped in Chinese medicine, like deer rib and deer sinew), a modern veterinary hospital, and a rescue area housing dogs, cats, and "pocket pets."

The dogs seemed very content to interact with any passerby or enthusiastically chew or playfully toss a tennis ball. The cats lounged in their comfortable pens featuring uniquely shaped and brightly colored perches and beds. The hamsters, guinea pigs, and other pocket pets basically did their best to stay out of the fixated gaze of a canine or feline predator (they were very safe in their cages).

Overall, I was very impressed with the Hong Kong SPCA’s operations and look forward to returning to lend my efforts to the shared cause of animal welfare. I also want to be a tourist again and become more familiar with the city and culture from an insider’s perspective.

The view from atop Victoria's Peak

Dog relief area

Dog relief area with fake grass

Gino's Doggie Gelato

Dr. Mahaney with SPCA director, Dr. Jane Gray

Dr. Patrick Mahaney

Image: istolethetv / via Flickr