Sunday , 22 December 2024

Is this ridiculous?

Marche Jean-Talon, who has not been to this touristic landmark of Montreal? I enjoyed walking and seeing the flowers, the market stands, and because I am an animal lover, I enjoyed looking at all the dogs parading with their owners doing their shopping. Recently I went back and noticed something was missing. The aromas, the flowers, the people were there; but I did not see a single furry friend strutting its stuff in the Market. To me it seemed weird.

As I step out of the market, I saw a dog tied up to a pole in the blistering heat of Montreal.  No water, and no way he could untie himself to move towards the shade. I looked around to see if the owner was near and no one was insight. I saw people passing by the dog like if he wasn’t there. He was panting, hot and looking around for his owner.  Like any other dog that I see tied up to a pole, I approach him and say hello. I was infuriated by the lack of common sense of people of leaving an animal parked like a bicycle.

Said my goodbye to my poor furry friend, although I really did not want to leave him. Then I saw a hideous poster that read something like this:

“Thank you for leaving your dog at the entrance! If you are responsible of a dog we would like to ask you to leave the animal by the door of the public market. There is food directly accessible, because of hygiene, public health and upon the request of other market clients; we invite you to make your animal wait at the designated areas at the border of the market. Thank you for your consideration. The team of public markets of Montreal.”

My jaw dropped to the floor. What surprises me the most is the fact that dog owners condone this kind of degrading treatment to dogs.  It is all about having common sense; if I see this poster and I have my dog with me I would just turn around, go back home and drop him off and then come back if I really need to buy something. Since that day…I prefer to buy at a supermarket. Either way, the prices are no different and so far I’ve seen that it is cleaner at supermarkets.

If the team of public markets is worried about public health they should tell all the vendors to wear masks, gloves and hairnets. The market would not smell with all the dirty water that is dumped by the drains. Cars and trucks would not be allowed to pass by where people walk. It is very obvious that the vendors touch the vegetables and fruits with the same hand that they take the money. There are no dispensers of antibacterial gel, you see children touching everything and sometimes even putting things into their mouth and the mother putting it back from where they got it.  If they think that by promoting to tie up dogs excuses the lack of hygiene of the public restrooms that they have at Marche Jean Talon, in my view they are terribly mistaken.

Not everyone likes a dog, which is normal and tolerable to say. There is no need for the team of public markets of Montreal to promote negligent behavior on dogs. Montreal has gone through a terribly hot summer and with time summers will get hotter. If some dog owners do not have the common sense of not taking their dogs to where they are not allowed, COULD THE TEAM OF MONTREAL MARKETS PLEASE PUT UP A SIGN THAT PROHIBITS TO LEAVE ANIMALS TIED UP?

To rescue a dog is not just accomplished by adopting one. Dogs need to be rescued from the ignorance of certain humans. Dogs can be rescued just by putting a halt to the abuse done by their own owners or “teams” of public markets. Please, if you really love dogs, lend them your voice when they need it.

About Liliana

Liliana Danel has lived in Mexico City, Texas – and Montreal for the past 8 years. She and her husband share their home with with a 4 year old rescued Jack Russell Terrier named Romeo (aka Nanners) and 3 adopted lionhead bunnies. When it comes to animal suffering and neglect, she is passionate about spreading the word. An avid Twitterer, reader and Hello Kitty collector – Liliana hopes to shine a light on animal topics that would otherwise not get told.

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