Ever since I was a kid, I was taught that dogs are good friends of humans. One of the earliest English proverbs I learned is, "Love me, love my dog". And indeed we are only too familiar with stories about the loyalty of a dog to its owner which makes it stand out as being the most trustworthy friend of all animals.

I can still recall my experience with a dog I kept when I was a schoolboy in this city decades ago. It would perch itself in front of the entrance of the longtang every day, waiting for my return from school. At the same time, the same place, rain or shine. The memory of my puppy making a rush at me, and licking me affectionately the moment it spotted me coming back is still vivid. Unfortunately sometimes human beings tend to underestimate the worthy traits innate in an animal.

Because of the chaotic situation on the eve of China's Liberation in 1949, my mom and I left for the interior to seek a more peaceful life, leaving my pet behind in the care of my elder brothers. Knowing nothing about my departure, the faithful animal still waited for me as usual, its eyes getting more doleful each day. To its utter disappointment, it never saw me return. It sickened and died soon after. The tragic turn of events hurt me so much that for a long time I was not able to recover from the distress of losing my little companion, and from blaming myself for not having brought it along with me. That was in 1948.

Now as city dwellers are getting better-off each day, the revival of keeping a dog in the household is gradually catching on. It has occurred to me to procure another dog to relive my old happy memories of canine companionship. However, I have been shilly-shallying, due to the cramped space of my flat and the densely inhabited area where I reside. It is definitely a repellent idea to seek pleasure my keeping a pet to the detriment of the neighbours and the environment. I have dropped the idea, for now at least.

Generally speaking, transplanting the so-called stylish way of life prevalent in the Western world indiscriminately into our society is not the correct way of doing things. As a case in point, keeping pets at home should not be copied or followed blindly but must go hand in hand with instilling a lofty spirit of love into townspeople.

Statistics published by the Ministry of Public Health only a few days ago shows that rabies ranks as the top disease in China in terms of infectiousness and the number of fatalities, largely due to lack of a sense of responsibility and care by dog owners.

As I understand it, ordinary people who keep dogs as pets fall into two rough categories: one likes to have an animal around as a kind of family member to enliven the household and the other, mainly lonely older people want the dog just for company or to run simple errands.

Still, many dog owners are just following what they believe to be the latest trend. They look upon owning a noble breed of dog as a sort of status symbol and they walk their dogs for the sole purpose of showing themselves off.

True, keeping a dog is a purely personal business and should have nothing to do with other people. However, the interests of the general public and the environment should not be infringed upon in any way. In the meantime the authorities concerned should spare no efforts in enforcing the relevant rules to bring dog-keeping into line with laws and regulations.

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