“The Dogs of Sai Kung” in ‘Dodho’ Magazine …

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

"The Dogs of Sai Kung" - photo essay by © Brian Cassey Photographer - made in the village of Sai Kung in Hong Kong - pub listed in Dodho Magazine
"The Dogs of Sai Kung" - photo essay by © Brian Cassey Photographer - made in the village of Sai Kung in Hong Kong - pub listed in Dodho Magazine
"The Dogs of Sai Kung" - photo essay by © Brian Cassey Photographer - made in the village of Sai Kung in Hong Kong - pub listed in Dodho Magazine
"The Dogs of Sai Kung" - photo essay by © Brian Cassey Photographer - made in the village of Sai Kung in Hong Kong - pub listed in Dodho Magazine
"The Dogs of Sai Kung" - photo essay by © Brian Cassey Photographer - made in the village of Sai Kung in Hong Kong - pub listed in Dodho Magazine
"The Dogs of Sai Kung" - photo essay by © Brian Cassey Photographer - made in the village of Sai Kung in Hong Kong - pub listed in Dodho Magazine
"The Dogs of Sai Kung" - photo essay by © Brian Cassey Photographer - made in the village of Sai Kung in Hong Kong - pub listed in Dodho Magazine
"The Dogs of Sai Kung" - photo essay by © Brian Cassey Photographer - made in the village of Sai Kung in Hong Kong - pub listed in Dodho Magazine

The Dogs of Sai Kung

A light hearted look at the obsession with dogs in the Hong Kong fishing village of Sai Kung … but with a serious message. Sunday’s see Sai Kung dog owners parading their pets along the water front and lunching with their dogs in the many water side restaurants. The town is awash with doggie boutiques, many vets and even a doggy bakery. The obsession can be traced back to the former UK administrations attempts to limit the human birth rate. The move proved successful over the years and Hong Kongese substituted dogs in the family to replace babies. The human birth rate in Hong Kong is now one of the lowest in the World.

Words and Images © Brian Cassey

Dogs … Pooches … Woofers … Whatever …

“The Dogs of Sai Kung” photo essay that I made in Hong Kong recently has been a bit of a hit with the Daily Telegraph in the UK.

Their glossy weekend magazine ran the pics as a full four page spread under the title “Barking Mad” using seven images and a very nice story by journalist Jessica Salter. (Thanks Jess !)

On the Daily Telegraph web site TWO of the images from the set starred – alongside images of Prince Will and Princess Kate, the Taliban in Afghanistan, Islamic protests against THAT movie, the Aurora Borealis through the polar ice and other pics from around the World  – in the “Pictures of the Day” gallery for the 18th September. 

The DT also ran another separate full gallery of seventeen Sai Kung doggy images under the title of  “The Pampered Dogs of Hong Kong”.

Nice to get a good run with these images that, to be honest, were not a priority at the time on the Hong Kong trip … and were all made just on a nice Sunday at the very pleasant Sai Kung seaside.

Below I’ve posted – from top – two images of the Daily Telegraph magazine four page spread “Barking Mad” and one image each from the “Pictures of the Day” gallery and “The Pampered Pooches of Hong Kong” gallery.

The complete essay (twenty six images) can be found either on my my personal web site at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/images.php?imagefolder=saikung 

… or on the web site of my collective ‘fotostrada’ at … http://www.fotostrada.com/#/latest-stories/the-dogs-of-sai-kung/BCskDogs1

All images © Brian Cassey

“The Dogs of Sai Kung” …

Have just returned from Hong Kong where I worked on several new photo essays … and the first of these – “The Dogs of Sai Kung” – has now been posted to my web site and the site of my collective ‘fotostrada’.

The fishing village of Sai Kung in the New Territories of the former British colony  is a microcosm of the now Hong Kong obsession with the dog as a pet … and not as a menu item. Here’s the text that accompanies the essay …

“The Chinese – and by obvious association the Hong Kongese – have long been accused of devouring ‘anything that moves’ including meals of our beloved canines.

However, the fishing village of Sai Kung in the New Territories of Hong Kong has embraced the dog as members of the family unit with a passion bordering on obsessive. In the 1970s Hong Kong government policy was to actively dissuade the population from having too many children. It worked … and the human birth rate in Hong Kong is now one of the World’s lowest at 1.10 per woman of child bearing age (2010), far below the replacement rate of 2.1. To compensate the locals have taken to treating their pet woofers as an integral and substitute part of the family.

Sundays sees the locals parading their pooches in prams along the pretty waterfront where they join their human ‘parents’ for exercise and lunch at the tables in the seafood restaurants. The town is awash with dog boutiques and even a doggy bakery where you can buy your precious pooch individual doggy pies and other fresh baked treats.

Lavish attention is paid to the grooming of the creatures and competition is fierce … just like comparing human babies.”

I’ve posted below a small selection of images from the new essay … the complete item can be found on my site here and on  ‘fotostrada’ here.

Images © Brian Cassey 2012