By Jay Scott Kanes

LAMMA ISLAND, Hong Kong – The city-dwelling day-visitors to this outlying island often astonish the locals. A few may indulge in a first-time-ever experience, one they’ll always remember. Yet Lamma residents take it entirely for granted.

What’s this mysterious, near-magical activity?

Riding the ferries? Nope!

Eating seafood? Nope!

Hugging a tree? Nope!

Breathing fresh air? Nope (despite the city smog)!

You’ll never guess! It’s “walking side-by-side with a dog”.

When a long-time city friend recently visited at our home in Lamma’s largest village, my wife introduced her to Gail, our dog, and to our six house-cats. Our friend, from the much more heavily populated Hong Kong Island, mentioned that she last visited Lamma about a decade ago. So my wife and Gail took her on a walking tour through the village to several beaches and across much of northern Lamma.

Later as we dined at a village restaurant, our friend, a grown woman with a no-longer-tiny daughter, surprised us by proclaiming what an historic day she’d had. “It was my first time to walk side-by-side with a dog,” she said.

She added a few observations about the remarkable experience. “Your dog’s very quiet and good. Even when she walked by herself in front of us, she stopped and waited for us if we were slow and fell behind.”

Our friend had come to Lamma seeking a change of scenery for a few hours. She took away a memory likely to last into old age.

No doubt, Gail enjoyed the stroll too, but she probably failed to recognize its big impact for her temporary companion. Too many day-visitors from the city react with frantic fear, even screaming or running, when they see the local dogs out walking. Such people need a tiny taste of our friend’s memorable experience.

Then our friend surprised us again. “It also was the first time I ever saw so many cats inside a house,” she said.

Hong Kong city folks! They’re so deprived. Too many of them live in skyscrapers and without pets. On Lamma, people like to enrich their lives by sharing their homes with a few (or more) animals.

One dog, six cats and two humans! That’s just a medium-sized Lamma family.


'Right this way! Follow me, humans.'