The Standard P15 City Talk |412 Character(s) |2021-12-07
It
is some years since Ethan the Samoyed was all too briefly in our lives, but
like all the animal companions
before him and since, he left us with more than just a few pictures. As with
many rescued animals he was out of the puppy stage when my friends adopted him,
so it is hard to know exactly how old he was, but he hadn't had much in the way
of training.
The
Samoyed was bred for hunting, sled-pulling and reindeer herding in Siberia, so
as you would expect they have a high tolerance for cold but very little
resistance to heat.
Why
anyone in their right mind would import this cold-acclimated animal to sub-tropical Hong Kong is hard
to understand.
Bringing
them into our climate had nothing to do with the animal's welfare but, sadly, the human desire to have what they
want.
With
so many dogs already abandoned in Hong Kong, it is shaming to think breeds that
can't cope with our conditions are regularly introduced here.
Even
worse is that when people can't cope with the needs of particular breeds they
are abandoned, unneutered, to add more suffering animals to the population.
Ethan,
like most of his breed was a happy-go-lucky, lively and highly affectionate boy
that someone abandoned when he was full grown. He was more than happy to visit
us to be socialized to animals and people, accepting mongrels Sassoon and
Molly's senior positions in the family and treating Jack Yorkie and Bonnie
Pomeranian as playmates.
He
was also fine with the cats, although they tended to leave him alone as he
wasn't particularly delicate when it came to sniffing them and they clearly
weren't too amused at being goosed by his big wet nose when they were simply
checking his empty food bowl.
Sadly
our friends lost him to that scourge of dogs everywhere, tick fever. His
double-layered coat, so unsuited to Hong Kong's climate, enabled a tick to stay
attached for long enough to infect him, despite repeated treatments against
ticks.
Think
twice about importing dogs from colder climates. But if you are lucky enough to
adopt one of these friendly and very beautiful dogs make sure you keep up with
tick and flea treatment, even in cooler months, and make the time to regularly
check their bodies for parasites that can hide in their luxuriant coat.
Georgina
Noyce is an equestrian judge, and has a menagerie of adopted four-legged waifs
and strays.
gnoyce2009@gmail.com
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