Very nice to see my pic essay “The Dogs of Sai Kung” make an another long overdue re-appearance … this time in the prestigious photographic magazine ‘Dodho’.
I made this pic essay some years back whilst in Hong Kong documenting a far more serious photo story on the former UK colonies cage and coffin homes. The ‘Dogs’ essay was made when on a ‘day off’ at the HK seaside playing with lots of colourful canines.
The essay does however illustrate a more serious issue … and the rationale is explained in my caption …
“ The Chinese have long been accused of devouring “anything that moves,” including meals made from our beloved canines. However, the fishing village of Sai Kung in the New Territories of Hong Kong has embraced dogs as members of the family with a passion bordering on obsession. In the 1970s, the Hong Kong government actively discouraged the population from having too many children. The policy worked, and today, Hong Kong has one of the world’s lowest birth rates of 0.7 per woman of childbearing age (2022) … far below the replacement rate of 2.1. To compensate, locals have taken to spoiling their pet woofers as an integral and substitute part of the family. On Sundays, locals parade their pooches in prams along the picturesque waterfront, where they join their human “parents” for exercise and even lunch at the tables of seafood restaurants. The town is awash with dog boutiques where you can buy your precious pooch the latest fashions, and even a doggy bakery offering individual doggy pies and other freshly baked treats.
Lavish attention is paid to grooming, and competition is fierce just like with human babies.”
Here below are just a few of the images from the twenty published in my ‘Dodho Magazine’ essay. To see the entire essay go to my website at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/…/dogs-of-sai…/ … or just go to the publication in ‘Dodho’ at … https://www.dodho.com/sai-kungs-dog-obsession-through…/
The essay first appeared in the UK Daily Telegraph Weekend Magazine with the headline ‘Barking Mad’. You may find it here … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/2012/09/.
I also made a light hearted short film using these doggy images (2 minutes 33 seconds) which may be found here … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/play/2013/02/the-dogs-of-sai-kung-2/
Images © Brian Cassey
