Local wonders why people bring their dogs to hawker centres when it isn’t allowed, but many defend responsible pet owners

SINGAPORE: After a man posted photos of pets that were allowed to accompany their fur parents at hawker centers, saying this should not be done, others quickly jumped to their defense, especially pet owners who make it a point to behave responsibly.

On the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook group page on Wednesday (Jan 15), a netizen posted two photos of dogs at a hawker center. One of the dogs was seated on a chair, while another was in a stroller. Both looked to be fairly well-behaved and their fur parents made sure to keep them close at hand.

However, the disgruntled post author wrote, “Why (do) people still bring their pets to hawker centers and coffee shops? NEA (is) not taking action when the noticeboard clearly stated that ‘no live animals allowed at the hawker centers’.”

Pets are not allowed at hawker centers throughout Singapore, unlike in other outdoor refreshment areas, after the Singapore Food Agency said last month that it “assessed that the risk of food safety and zoonotic transmission with the presence of pets at outdoor refreshment areas is low.”

Nevertheless, people have been known to bring their pets to hawker centers, and it seems that there are those in Singapore who appear to have no problem with it even if it’s illegal. They appealed to the post author to extend patience toward pet owners.

One commenter on the post said he would rather see pets at hawker centers than children running around and screaming, especially when their parents don’t bother to discipline them.

Another pointed out that “most if not all” dog owners who bring their pets to hawker centers choose seating along the perimeter of the eating area, and added that if live animals are the post author’s concern, he should look no further than the birds that fly in and swoop down to eat the food scraps left behind by diners.

“If the pets are well behaved, not a nuisance and owners are responsible, I do not see the problem,” wrote one commenter. However, another argued that one would never know what would trigger a pet to go into attack mode and bite other patrons.

Still, some agreed that if a pet is well-behaved and does not bother others, it should not be a problem. Other issues, such as littering and hygiene practices are more important, they added.

Others argued that when responsible owners take care of their pets well, at least they don’t allow their fur babies to urinate just anywhere, perhaps in reference to the recent spate of public urination cases in Singapore over the past week.

The Independent Singapore has reached out to the post author for further comments and updates. /TISG

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