Ho Chi Minh City For the past two months, Mr. Ngo Binh has been tense with his neighbors because he cannot stand the stench from the stray cats they bring.
Mr. Binh’s neighbor is an elderly single woman who loves cats so much that she feeds and adopts about 7 of them. The two houses are located in an alley on Phong Phu Street, District 8, next to each other but not adjacent, with a common walkway 0.7 m wide and 2 m long. There, Mr. Binh opens the window to let in the wind while his neighbor hangs the clothesline.
However, this space soon became a haven for cats. The wind blew cat hair straight into Mr. Binh's kitchen. Late at night, cats ran across the roof and then out into the front yard to defecate.
Mr. Binh said that every morning at 5am, he and his wife woke up and opened the door to see cat feces everywhere, so they took the initiative to clean it up before going to work. The first time they suggested it to their neighbors, they said they sympathized and would try to keep the cats safe, but the second and third times, the result was still the same.
"She helped clean up but she talked too much and it became a fight," said Mr. Binh, 55 years old. "Their house is small and they can't keep the whole flock locked up all day."
Last week, Mr. Binh was washing dishes in the kitchen and couldn't stand the cat smell, so he called his neighbor to clean up the cat poop. The woman holding the broom, while doing so, said that Mr. Binh was "looking for trouble".
Three years ago, when she moved to a 4.5-meter-wide alley in Go Vap District, Ms. Bich Xuan, 45, did not think that one day she would have conflicts with her neighbors just because of dogs and cats. The alley is more than 200 meters long, with 50 households living there, three of which have dogs. The owners let their dogs run loose in the alley, urinating and defecating right in front of their houses.
"They said they would clean it up, but it's not always on time. They don't even know whose dog it is to claim it," said Ms. Xuan. "The stench is coming from the house, and we have a small child. How can we stand it?"
One day, she came home from work and stepped on dog poop while driving her bike into the house. The house was dirty, so Ms. Xuan had to get water to clean it while her husband took the bike to be washed.
Dogs are not muzzled, and when they see people running by, they run to sniff or bark. Xuan is afraid of being bitten on the leg, so she often tells her 7-year-old son to stay away or asks his mother to take him out.
But she was not the only household in the alley facing the same situation. They were divided into two fierce factions, those who supported dog ownership and those who did not. The group leader stepped in to arbitrate the argument that caused disorder in the street, but everything "went back to normal" after a few days.
Conflicts over dog and cat ownership in residential communities are common in large cities. Ho Chi Minh City alone currently has more than 184,000 dogs and cats raised by nearly 106,000 households. Of which, the proportion of pets in 5 suburban districts accounts for about 34%, with each household raising an average of about 1.74 dogs. Of which, over 29,000 mixed-breed dogs account for nearly 16% of the total herd.
Dr. Vo Thanh Tuyen - Deputy Head of the Department of Urban Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City said that from the perspective of pet owners, pets are a need for affection, bringing a feeling of comfort, reducing stress or loneliness.
However, due to the characteristics of urban space structure, raising dogs and cats still faces many shortcomings in terms of hygiene and noise. Ho Chi Minh City has a dense system of alleys. This is a compressed, narrow space that easily causes odors and loss of aesthetics. At the same time, the noise generated by dogs and cats can easily make others uncomfortable. Different factors and viewpoints have created conflicts in the community.
In addition, large cities in Vietnam such as Ho Chi Minh City lack public spaces with suitable functions for dogs and cats. This space has not been focused on in public design, housing or green parks.
Adding his opinion on this issue, Dr. Truong Hoang Truong (University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City) said that animals kept in households can cause epidemics, bite people if not protected, causing insecurity for residents, especially families with small children.
63% of 400 readers participating in VnExpress 's survey agreed with Mr. Truong, saying that keeping pets in apartments should be absolutely banned, 35% agreed with the solution of keeping pets but must ensure that it does not affect other residents; only 2% said that it should be allowed because it is a personal right.
Phu Tuan's dog is sad when he can't run around, March 2024. Photo: Character provided
Phu Tuan, 29, agrees with the above view. The young man who rents a room in an alley on Phan Van Tri Street, Go Vap District, said he doesn't have many options when it comes to raising dogs in the city.
Tuan's dog is a Pomeranian, weighs four kilograms and loves to run around. Tuan said that if he lets the dog out to play in the alley, he has to sit and watch the dog so that it doesn't defecate and the neighbors complain. They are very careful and care about the common space. However, Tuan doesn't have much free time. He has to let the dog play ball, go up and down the stairs or on the terrace to release energy.
Ms. Tuyen believes that urban lifestyle must be compatible with existing space. Experts suggest solutions including surveying residents, issuing regulations based on the majority, and communicating regulations so that people understand and sympathize. Ideally, regulations are built on related laws such as the law on disease prevention and control, and decrees on security and order related to raising cats and dogs.
Experts say that in some countries like the US and Singapore, there are very strict regulations on managing dogs and cats. For example, they stipulate that dogs after three months of age must be declared to the authorities or microchipped.
In Vietnam, this measure has just been proposed for implementation in Ho Chi Minh City. According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, people who want to raise dogs and cats must register with the People's Committee at the commune level. Households are encouraged to attach microchips such as electronic chips or a microprocessor software to their pets. Cages for raising fierce dogs must be ensured to be inaccessible to everyone, with warning signs. Cages also need sleeping areas suitable for weather conditions, a minimum floor area of 10 m2 per dog and a minimum height and width of 1.8 m.
"This is a good sign for managing dogs and cats, ensuring the needs of owners and helping them have more responsibility," said Ms. Tuyen.
Ms. My Hanh, 23 years old, is an animal lover and supports the above proposal. Last year, Ms. Le Thi Hai, Hanh’s grandmother, was bitten by a dog in the alley.
The 74-year-old woman, despite being "familiar with the neighbors' dogs, was still attacked by two of them, barking at them and one of them bit her leg. She was wearing long pants, the wound was not deep but painful, and she had to go to the hospital for four rabies shots. The pet owner apologized and supported the cost of 1.5 million VND, but the neighbors became cold to each other after this incident.
Hanh said that dogs raised in households are often not vaccinated, some have lice and fleas. Her alley on Highway 50, Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City is only wide enough for two motorbikes, so it is difficult to avoid contact, affecting the living space.
"I don't want to offend anyone, but both sides have their reasons and it's hard to avoid conflict," Hanh said.
Character names have been changed.
Ngoc Ngan
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