THE PEAK, Hong Kong Island – With two legs or four, sometimes it's possible to accomplish something significant simply by placing one foot or paw in front of the other(s).

More than 100 dogs, including 30 therapy dogs, and their humans recently gathered at the Peak on a Sunday morning (December 4) to walk together as a way to express their shared wishes for harmony between humans and animals. After starting at Lugard Road, the walk followed the Hong Kong Trail.

An annual event, the Walk For Harmony raises money for the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF), notably for its animal-therapy programs. Those programs send “Dr Dogs” to visit hospitals, homes for the elderly, disabled centres and orphanages while “Professor Paws” dogs stop by at schools to teach students to love and respect animals.

The 20-year-old Dr Dog program involves more than 350 “dog-doctors” active in Hong Kong and on the Chinese mainland. Similar programs in Taiwan, the Philippines, India, Japan and Malaysia see the AAF train and advise local animal-welfare groups.

Since 2004, the Professor Paws program has gone into Hong Kong schools. A Chinese-language version runs in the mainland cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu.

AAF founder Jill Robinson recalls that when she first came to Hong Kong in the 1980s, many people feared dogs because of rabies and disease on the Chinese mainland. Pedigree dogs were bred indiscriminately and often abandoned to starve when people tired of them.

Now the attitudes toward companion animals have improved significantly. There's even a waiting list of hospitals, orphanages, disabled centres and elderly homes seeking visits by canines who really are mankind's best friends.

So the dogs on the Walk For Harmony had good reasons for a little extra jauntiness in their gaits. Even so, the world never has too much harmony.


Will the world match the harmony seen on the Peak?