Hong Kong puppy-fostering scheme bolsters return of seeing-eye dogs
After a 30-year absence, guide dogs are returning to the city
Like any mother, Lily Lam King-pui is dreading the moment when young Bella leaves the nest. She knows there will be tears when she says goodbye to the youngster she has nurtured. But she takes comfort in the fact that her Bella will make a difference in the world.
"I know she will be helping someone and I know whoever that is, they will love her and treat her well," Lam says.
Bella is in fact, not a child, but a Labrador puppy, and a special one at that. Bred in the US, she is earmarked to become a guide dog for the visually impaired. After an absence of more than 30 years, guide dogs are back on Hong Kong streets thanks to the help of a growing army of volunteers fostering puppies in training.
Bella's arrival in Hong Kong earlier this year marked the expansion and growing acceptance of the guide dogs scheme in the city, which resumed three years ago.
The service, which aims to provide more independence and freedom to the visually impaired, was introduced in the 1970s, in Hong Kong with two dogs called Opal and Winta. But when the dogs died in 1979 and 1981, they were not replaced, and the service was shelved.
That all changed in 2011 with the arrival of Google, a Labrador pup donated by the Taiwan Guide Dog Association. Google went on to become Hong Kong's first guide dog of the 21st century.
