While athletes in China were competing for medals in the Beijing Olympic games, 400 pets took part in the first ever 'Olympets' organised by a pet shop in Hong Kong.
Organiser Howard Cheung, who runs the city-centre PetMAX store, said he was inspired by the Beijing Games, but also wanted to help owners keep their animals healthy.
From rabbit hurdles and parrot rope-climbing to cat agility contests, the Hong Kong pet shop has organised 10 weeks' worth of events to try to promote sport for animals
"Pets need to exercise and they don't have much space in Hong Kong. So we are trying to promote exercise and stimulate owners to exercise their pets," he said.
Most of Hong Kong's 7 million people live in tiny cramped apartments and dogs are banned from many city parks.
Nevertheless, pets have become a must-have accessory and are treated accordingly - grooming parlours abound, and the city even has a bakery dedicated to making cakes for animals.
Mr Cheung said the so-called 'Olympets' had proved popular, with 400 animals taking part in the heats held so far.
An awards presentation will be held at the end of August, using pet-sized medals the store has had specially made for the event.
But Mr Cheung admitted the prospect of winning gold was not always enough to inspire the animals.
Organiser Howard Cheung, who runs the city-centre PetMAX store, said he was inspired by the Beijing Games, but also wanted to help owners keep their animals healthy.
From rabbit hurdles and parrot rope-climbing to cat agility contests, the Hong Kong pet shop has organised 10 weeks' worth of events to try to promote sport for animals
"Pets need to exercise and they don't have much space in Hong Kong. So we are trying to promote exercise and stimulate owners to exercise their pets," he said.
Most of Hong Kong's 7 million people live in tiny cramped apartments and dogs are banned from many city parks.
Nevertheless, pets have become a must-have accessory and are treated accordingly - grooming parlours abound, and the city even has a bakery dedicated to making cakes for animals.
Mr Cheung said the so-called 'Olympets' had proved popular, with 400 animals taking part in the heats held so far.
An awards presentation will be held at the end of August, using pet-sized medals the store has had specially made for the event.
But Mr Cheung admitted the prospect of winning gold was not always enough to inspire the animals.
7 comments:
Thanks for sharing that interesting bit of news, Eurodog. I have not decided if it is a good thing or not. But I am sure it was fun for participants and their owners
Brilliant! Have you seen that dog's now back on the menu in Beijing?
More fascinating stuff! I have to say, I hate the idea of pets as accessories, and having a dog in such a concentrated urban space as Hong Kong must be an enormous challenge. We go to our local dog show for a bit of fun - Brown Dog managed to somehow gain a silver certificate in the agility class despite scrambling over the tunnel he was supposed to go through. I like to think they were awarding marks for ingenuity, but if I'm honest, it was a very rainy day and most of the other competitors were either holed up in their cars or had gone home.
walking still works pretty well, and can be done most anywhere. Just be sure to put that owner on a leash!
hi Belle and dog trainer of unknown name-
if you'd care to add me to your links or website list, I'd be so happy to send you a packet of dog art greeting cards...
I'm begging for links trying to get some search engine ranking on my site :) and I like your site, so...
Is Belle a Bernie/Border mix? what is she? looks like a herder.
thanks so much,
nancy
Exercise is important for our pets I am glad to see its been so organized! Hi eurodog....I have returned and I'm so glad you are here and posting away.
WW, to be expected.
LBD, well done.
Nancy Schutt, hello and welcome. Please leave me your link/web address. Belle is a Border Collie 100%
VV, welcome back.
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