Pets on public transport? Sydney should follow London’s lead

“The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”

No matter who authored this quote (weirdly attributed both to Mark Twain and Charles de Gaulle), it resonated this week as I scrolled reader responses to a plan to allow dogs on Sydney trains and buses.

The author’s “feisty” terrier, Sherlock, on the London Tube. Credit: The Admirable Watson

Proposed by Clover Moore, it can hardly be deemed the veteran lord mayor’s most revolutionary idea, yet the level of public opprobrium it unleashed (sorry) seems out of proportion. One headline, “Barking mad”, best encapsulates the majority view, while an array of outraged commentators predict disasters ranging from dog fur (and worse) on train seats to scenes of mauled schoolchildren and triggered dog attack victims. Really? Really?!

I have lived in London for 15 years now, 11 of them with a Cairn terrier, a feisty Scottish breed usually recognised as Dorothy’s Toto in The Wizard of Oz. Our boy, (incidentally named Sherlock before we learnt his grandfather’s name was Moriarty), is just one of an estimated 9 million domestic dogs who live in the UK. On the continent, Germany tops the dog ownership list with 9.2 million Canis familiaris, followed by Poland (7.55 million), Italy (7 million) and France (6.95 million) – and all are welcome to travel on public transport.

In London, every commuter is allowed two animals per fare – and the four-legged ones travel gratis. I’ve seen a great Dane folded into the luggage space on a London bus, rescue greyhounds splayed in the aisles, Pomeranians and chihuahuas peeking out of handbags and backpacks, a corgi neatly sharing a train seat with his owner. I could not count the number of buses and trains that Sherlock has happily boarded with us, baulking only occasionally when “mind the gap” warnings on the Underground heralded a huge chasm between train and platform for his short terrier legs. (Admittedly, he is also not a fan of escalators.)

Over the years, we’ve also seen two large Bengal cats walk onto a bus, a large and sweary Macau parrot sitting on a man’s shoulder on the Tube, and I’ve even witnessed a pet ferret disappear in and out of its owner’s sock. Nobody raised an eyebrow. And not once have I witnessed an animal refused entry to a bus or train, nor any fuss or upset.

London is home to nearly 9 million citizens, a huge metropolis where public transport is dominant over the car. Every day, more than 3 million Londoners use public transport, while in any 24-hour period, some 21 million trips are made on buses or trains.

Sydney, on the other hand, remains a city dominated by the automobile, enveloped by highways and ruled by traffic. The great majority of commuter journeys are made in cars, which are, by their very nature, defined by individual choice and comfort.

And perhaps that’s the crux of Sydneysiders’ cultural response to Clover Moore’s proposal: the use of public transport is still, intrinsically, seen as an inconvenience to the individual and the lesser choice when compared with driving. The idea of sharing a train carriage or bus with a dog seems to add to Sydneysiders’ instinctive sense of discomfort, an additional annoyance rather than a joy.

I am a dog lover and I know that not everyone shares my passion. But a quick calculation shows that while there’s roughly one dog for every seven people in Britain and one in nine in Germany, Australia, with a comparatively small population of under 26 million people, is still home to about 6.4 million domestic dogs. That’s one dog for every four Aussie citizens – so why the reticence?

In the UK, dogs are also allowed in most pubs and restaurants (as a courtesy, it’s always wise to call to check first) and a recent survey revealed that the majority of England’s churches and cathedrals now welcome dogs to services. One of my abiding memories of rural England is visiting the 12th-century Malmesbury Abbey, once England’s largest, which hosts an annual service specifically in thanks – and for – domestic pets, most of them dogs. In many Western nations, the isolation and loneliness of COVID sparked a jump in dog ownership and a generation of pups raised in constant human company were thrown suddenly into separation anxiety as their owners returned to work.

It doesn’t have to be that way: one of our neighbours and a good friend is an Appeals Court judge and often takes his dog into the office in the Royal Courts of Justice. In London, his story is not unique.

Allowing dogs on public transport is simply a first sign of moving away from dominance theories of canine training and ownership into true acceptance that, as sentient beings and pack animals, they want – and are happiest – when with us as companions.

Let’s face it, doggy daycare is big business in Australia, so this is not an alien concept.

So come on, Sydneysiders, think again. The planet needs more bums on public transport and a bus or train trip with Fido might just make the switch more fun.

Dr Paola Totaro is a former Saturday editor and Europe correspondent for the Herald and The Age and now lives and works in London.

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