The dog swimming pool on the Red Brick Road (also known as Mei Yuen St) was quiet at lunchtime yesterday (6 August) with only four dogs paddling about. Just one dog, a black dachshund, seemed to be enjoying itself, swimming enthusiastically in circles. The others appeared to be frightened by the unusual experience.
The dog pool is run by Oasis Dog Club, part of the Christian New Being Fellowship. This charity does fine work for humans: it shows young former drug addicts who have been in jail a better path in life by exposing them to farming and animal care at a facility in the country park near the Lady MacLehose Holiday Centre. Regrettably BUZZ has had to criticise them repeatedly for failing to treat animals well. On previous hiking visits we have found dogs housed in cages so small it amounts to cruel confinement. Sunny Ng, the charity’s chief executive, wrote to BUZZ saying they loved their dogs and would improve their housing and treatment. We have yet to see this eventuate. The police and the SPCA have sent officers to check on the conditions of the dogs, but have not been able to do anything because the cages are not illegal.
The Mei Yuen St facility is a charming place with its plant cultivation beds, a water wheel and young staff tending to the animals and selling potted plants to visitors. If you want to take your dog swimming in the pool it is $70 to $130 for 90 minutes depending on the animal’s size. Usually you can just walk into the Christian facility, next to the Sai Kung District Community Centre, especially if you have a dog. You are not made welcome if you don’t have a four-legged companion, as we found yesterday.
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