Dogs in Cities
| 20:51 UK time, Sunday, 10 February 2008
A few years ago, when I hosted a nightly phone-in (or talk show) on London's commercial news station, if we were ever short of calls there was one subject guaranteed to light up the lines. That subject was (to put it politely) dog muck.
Mention that we'd had more complaints about irresponsible dog owners and hundreds of people would queue up to tell us their smelly tale (tail?) of treading in something unpleasant.
I'm talking about a few years back, when the dangers to children of diseases spread by dogs were beginning to be recognised. It seemed to me then that Londoners were so angry, they would rise up in a massacre of mutts, rather like the in pre-Revolutionary Paris.
And at the time, I agreed with them. As a frequent jogger around London's streets, I had to contend with a number of vicious dogs over the years - I've still got a scar on my knee where one bit me in an unprovoked attack. (As I sat in the Accident and Emergency waiting room at Greenwich Hospital, the police persuaded me not to 'press charges' because the dog was the only friend of an old man living in a homeless hospital - would they show the same compassion today, I wonder?)
But now, we have a dog in the city. Here she is:
She's a Welsh Terrier and we got her for lots of reason. One was my youngest son's nervousness with dogs which was becoming a real problem for him. We couldn't go to the park without him anxiously mentioning that there was a dog in the far distance. His twin sister would excitedly exclaim "Yes, there is a dog!" and rush towards it arms out for a hug. Twins are confusing sometimes.
We hoped that if he got to know a dog from puppyhood, he would realise that they can be friendly. Luckily it worked and he now pats well-behaved dogs without a second thought.
So I thought I would ask for your views - are dogs suited to cities? Or are they an unfortunate form of pollution? Are urban dog owners irresponsible and slightly weird? Or are they strengthening humanity's relationship with the planet by talking to the animals?
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