In Finland, people take their dogs everywhere—even to demonstrations! Picture: Tony Öhberg for Finland Today
PET OWNERSHIP SEEMS to be one of the things Finns excel at. It is very common to see people taking their dogs for walks—during every season! As an animal lover, I took a closer look at pet ownership in this Nordic country and found out some of the things that make it unique.
First of all, getting a pet is not as easy as it is in other countries, and it is certainly not cheap. Regardless of this, since 2016, 23 percent of Finns own at least one dog or cat.
A current article from my home country stated that Mexico City is the city with the highest number of stray dogs in all of Latin America. Because getting a dog is relatively easy, it is common to see abandoned dogs whose owners could not care for them anymore.
In Finland, this is not the case. Pets are important members of Finnish families and are therefore taken care of appropriately. Dogs are acquired from breeders and kennel associations which make it easier to buy healthy puppies from the desired breed.
Pets are important members of Finnish families and are therefore taken care of appropriately.
In Helsinki, the Public Works Department has built more than 80 dog parks, some of which have divisions for smaller or larger dogs. Some regulations for dog owners include always having their dog on a leash and always picking up after them.
Finns are also considerate of surrounding fauna. If you find an injured wild animal, you can take it to Korkeasaari Zoo where it will receive care and be rehabilitated until it can be released back into the wild. If that is not the perfect animal care policy, then I don’t know what is.
