“On the first tour we organized, we had two young women who brought four dachshunds. By the third day they were exhausted and couldn’t go on. ... We now always recommend no more than one pet per person, or even better, one dog between two, so you can share the work of caring for the dog,” Chuang said.
best behavior
It is also important to ensure a reasonably good dynamic between the dogs and to monitor the ability of their owners. “Badly behaved dogs will be refused admission to hotels or play areas,” Cheung said.
“We simply cannot afford to accept any applicant to join the tour,” Tsai said. “If the owner cannot control their dog, we have no choice but to reject them. After all, you only need one dog who cannot be controlled, whether it is biting other dogs or barking uncontrollably, to create difficulties for everyone,” he added.
Pet Tour is the only tourism outfit in Taiwan offering foreign travel for owners and their pets, mostly dogs. Some travel agents do offer domestic travel to destinations such as Hualien or Kenting, were pets can take advantage of big open spaces or experience the delights of the ocean. An increasing number of Taiwanese guesthouses accept pets, or provide some basic services, but Tsai emphasized that these services are usually incidental to their services for humans. “In Japan, hotels which accept dogs are meticulously planned to cater to canine comfort and owner convenience.”
International airlines present a confusing array of regulations governing when and how animals can be transported. “The treatment and attitude toward carrying dogs also varies considerably from carrier to carrier,” Tsai said. Most domestic transport carriers are inclined to treat dogs as cargo, with little regard for the comfort and well-being of a much-pampered companion.
Tsai, who has led group tours of around 10 dogs and their owners to Tokyo, Okinawa and Osaka, said that Japan is considerably more advanced than Taiwan in their handling and treatment of pets. This is part of the reason he decided to establish Pet Tour. “It is not mainly about the tours, which are relatively expensive and for which the market remains small,” he said. “It is a chance to show people how other countries treat their pets, and in the long-term, perhaps raise the level for Taiwan’s treatment of dogs.”
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