Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Pets in shopping malls - Forum letter

ST Forum - Online Story, 9 April 2008

Pets in shopping malls

WITHIN one week, I saw four incidents in which dog owners took their pets into a mall or shopping centre. Three of them happened in a mall near my estate and the fourth, at Vivo City last Saturday.

On one of the occasions at my estate, I politely told a man who was carrying his dog in the mall that dogs were not allowed in the premises. He gave me an angry look. Later I saw him in a hair salon, this time with his dog on a leash. I told a security officer in the mall to talk to him. In another incident, the owner placed her dog in the shopping basket at a supermarket.

Signs are placed at most, if not all, malls or shopping centres prohibiting pets in their premises but people are ignoring these signs. I am not against dogs. I have relatives who own dogs. Pet owners should be more considerate towards others.

Salinahwati Mohd Ali (Ms)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

putting your pet in the shopping basket in a supermarket is plain inconsiderate..no matter how clean you deem your pet to be *tsk tsk*

Anonymous said...

I think some kids are more hazardous to other customers especially the senior citizens who may fall!

Anonymous said...

Well, i think the writer is not awared that there is a Pet Lovers centre in Vivo. They actually allow pets to shop with the owner, so that's explain why pets especially dogs can be seen in some of the shopping malls. I see that there is no problem with this as long as the pet owner looks after their pet well, picks after them and ensure that the animal is on a leash at all times. I agree that many of the kids are more nuisace than animals. So can i suggest that they be banned from the malls?

auntie p said...

Despite our development into a so-called first world country, we are still very far behind in our mental development in many areas, including the treatment of animals as "mere animals", this despite the fact that many people already consider their pets as their very dear children.

It is so unlike Europe, where in France, my jaw dropped to almost the floor when we saw people taking their (leashed) dogs into eating places and into shops to buy their cured meats, etc. Even as I remain hopeful, I don't think we will ever progress to that level.