“The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”
No matter who authored this quote (weirdly attributed each to Mark Twain and Charles de Gaulle), it resonated this week as I scrolled reader responses to a plan to permit dogs on Sydney trains and buses.
The writer’s “feisty” terrier, Sherlock, on the London Tube. Credit: The Admirable Watson
Proposed by Clover Moore, it might probably hardly be deemed the veteran lord mayor’s most revolutionary concept, but the extent of public opprobrium it unleashed (sorry) appears out of proportion. One headline, “Barking mad”, greatest encapsulates the bulk view, whereas an array of outraged commentators predict disasters starting from canine fur (and worse) on prepare seats to scenes of mauled schoolchildren and triggered canine assault victims. Really? Really?!
I’ve lived in London for 15 years now, 11 of them with a Cairn terrier, a feisty Scottish breed normally recognised as Dorothy’s Toto in The Wizard of Oz. Our boy, (by the way named Sherlock earlier than we realized his grandfather’s title was Moriarty), is only one of an estimated 9 million home dogs who dwell within the UK. On the continent, Germany tops the canine possession listing with 9.2 million Canis familiaris, adopted by Poland (7.55 million), Italy (7 million) and France (6.95 million) – and all are welcome to journey on public transport.
In London, each commuter is allowed two animals per fare – and the four-legged ones journey free of charge. I’ve seen an awesome Dane folded into the baggage house on a London bus, rescue greyhounds splayed within the aisles, Pomeranians and chihuahuas peeking out of purses and backpacks, a corgi neatly sharing a prepare seat together with his proprietor. I couldn’t rely the variety of buses and trains that Sherlock has fortunately boarded with us, baulking solely sometimes when “mind the gap” warnings on the Underground heralded an enormous chasm between prepare and platform for his brief terrier legs. (Admittedly, he’s additionally not a fan of escalators).
Over the years, we’ve additionally seen two giant Bengal cats walk onto a bus, a big and sweary Macau parrot sitting on a person’s shoulder on the Tube, and I’ve even witnessed a pet ferret disappear out and in of its proprietor’s sock. Nobody raised an eyebrow. And not as soon as have I witnessed an animal refused entry to a bus or prepare, nor any fuss or upset.
London is home to almost 9 million residents, an enormous metropolis the place public transport is dominant over the automotive. Every day, greater than 3 million Londoners use public transport, whereas in any 24-hour interval, some 21 million journeys are made on buses or trains.
Sydney, however, stays a metropolis dominated by the car, enveloped by highways and dominated by visitors. The nice majority of commuter journeys are made in automobiles, that are, by their very nature, outlined by particular person alternative and luxury.
