The dog next to me

In order to protect this place from being searched by government agencies, I will not name it or point out where it is located. Anyway, it is a teahouse that I often visit.

There are always two female dogs outside this teahouse, a yellow one that has been here since my first visit a few years ago, and a black one that I watched grow up. I love dogs, so every time I come, I will first pet their heads. Obviously these are two dogs that have seen the world, not afraid to be rusty and not resistant to human touch, but also not too enthusiastic, as if things should be, diners to pet the dog before dining is the right thing to do.

Dogs on the street have a special smell, especially after being drenched in water. The smell is strange, a bit like a lunch meat and egg sandwich, so I sometimes refer to all street dogs as "egg sandwiches". These two dogs actually live across the street from the teahouse, and from time to time I have seen their owner bathe them with a plastic hose, so they also smell like "egg sandwiches". After petting them, I never order "meal egg cures" in this restaurant, because I think the double "meal egg cures" smell on my hands is so strong that it is disgusting, and I remember that I am actually eating dog meat.

Yet, I still fondle them. In fact, everyone in the restaurant loved them. Whenever there weren't too many customers, the guy would open the door and let them in. Once inside, they are happy, wagging their tails and asking for food table by table. The guests also try to satisfy them, chicken wings, ham and bread, they have all tasted. The highlight of the show was when the brother in the kitchen took out a plastic bag with minced meat and gave it to the yellow dog, who would take it in his hand and walk back to the owner across the street. What is it for? Not the owner to eat, is the owner open the bag to pour out the contents of the reward to it to eat. What a disciplined dog!

Sometimes other dogs in the neighborhood also come to hang out, for example, a flower dog called "Poker", who recently made his partner "Po" pregnant and gave birth to nine babies, so everyone praised him for being "promising ", "smart boy". Poker knows how to stand upright, so diners will deliberately lift the food very high, let him stand up to eat, and then we praise him "great", "smart boy".

When I saw the happy scene, I thought I was in Western Europe or Montreal, Canada (voted the most dog-friendly city in the world in 2005). In those places, there are many stores and restaurants where dogs are allowed and the government doesn't care.

In Hong Kong, the fate of dogs is similar to that of cigarettes, and they were banned even earlier than cigarettes. Not only are they not allowed in restaurants, but even parks and all beaches managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) are off-limits. The images we see on TV of foreigners and golden retrievers happily riding the waves on the beach are just a movie fiction to us, as unreal as Godzilla bringing down the Tokyo Tower. Outside of dogs, there are other animals that also cannot be in a restaurant at the same time as people, such as cats. Only we all know that cats in tea restaurants is actually a semi-open secret, because it can be used to deal with another more abominable animal - rats.

The truth is that humans have not always been like this, and there were and are many places where humans and other animals are able to peacefully share many spaces many places. The spatial division between man and beast is very recent, and we have increasingly and arbitrarily monopolized places that were not just ours, excluding all non-human species, even man's best friend.

Is it purely a matter of hygiene? Not necessarily. I don't think the average hygiene level of Hong Kong restaurants is higher than that of some European restaurants that allow dogs and cats. I think the reason we are so afraid of dogs is not all because we are afraid that they will be dirty and cause us to have diarrhea after eating (otherwise people would not have dogs), but also because of a cultural role. And the nature of Hong Kong culture is intolerant. If you've ever seen children desperately chasing insects that accidentally flew in and stomping and beating them in a train, while their parents tacitly approve and even encourage them in panic, you'll see what I mean.