dog walking against law in Shanghai!
hi everyone -- first of all this site is a god send to an american living and working in Shanghai, China!
i've had Kobe (I'm originally from LA, Lakers fan. ha ha) -- for about a month now. He's 3 months old and my first boxer dog. my fiancee and i have been living in Shanghai working for some years now and life just seemed a bit unbalanced and we became workaholics...until we got Kobe last month!
it's a bit of a challenge raising a puppy here in China. there are 13 million people in this city and most of them get scared when they see a pomeranian running down the street. luckily, our apartment complex is closed in and has a nice garden.
just posting to vent because i've been waiting for a dog like Kobe -- who's actually from Taiwan because I'm convinced there are no boxer lovers in China -- or medium to big sized dog lovers period. anyways, we finally bring him home last month and learn that the city of Shanghai has just passed a new law that is going to be effective Feb. 15th.
what's this new law? well, since there are so many people living in this city, it used to be that you couldn't walk your dog between 8AM to 8PM -- but with an increase in dogs over the past few years and uneducated owners who don't know how to properly train or handle them -- there's been an increase in dog bite incidents and the idea of cleaning up after your dog is unheard of. so what do they do? ban dog walking period!
and they're serious too. if a policeman catches you on the street walking your dog, they'll fine you or worse, take the dog away and well, you know.
a friend of mine last month was walking his german shephard and basically a person rounded the corner and screamed so loud it startled the dog and he barked at her. well, this woman ended up fainting and falling on her back -- and now my friend's responsible for any medical bills that arise as a result of this traumatic dog barking experience.
i have another friend the a shepherd mix who is the sweetest thing ever...but he always gets some enterprising neighbors who knock on his door and claim that his dog bit him...they always ask for money in exchange for keeping it to themselves.
argh! the frustrations of being a dog owner in china.
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