About twenty “doctor dogs” enjoyed a first ride on the MTR on Saturday as the rail operator put its usual rules on carrying animals to one side as part of a special campaign for International Dog Day.
Normally, only guide dogs are allowed on the trains, but this rule was eased for one day to allow the therapy pups to ride along. The very special passengers had to travel in bags that fully covered their bodies, and had to gather in the last car of the train.
MTR chiefs say they’ll look into how the day goes before deciding whether to open train doors full time to the therapy dogs, which visit places such as hospitals, schools and centres for disabled people to offer emotional support and put smiles on faces.
“We have a lot of things to take into account, and we especially hope that it won’t affect our railway service operations,” said Annie Leung, a general manager for the corporation.
“Besides, different passengers have different reactions. Some passengers… really want us to allow dogs on board, but we have also received some concerns from a small number of passengers about the matter.”
She says managers will collect feedback and assess how the day went before making a decision.
Marnie Yau, who manages the Dr Dog initiative for organiser Animals Asia, says she hoped the campaign, which also saw advertising placed on the MTR network, had increased awareness of the role of therapy dogs.
“Over the past two weeks, we have noticed that many people have been discussing what a ‘dog doctor’ is and how it can help the community,” Yau said.
She said more than 100 therapy dogs are registered for the project, which has been operating in the SAR for more than 30 years.