Munich is a dog-friendly city. In the five days I spent there last week discussing and learning about new ideas for treating injured dogs and cats there were dogs everywhere.

There were dogs on buses and trams, on the underground, riding in baskets on bicycles or trotting behind their owners' bicycles around the park. In this clean and meticulously regulated city, man's best friend was certainly not made to feel like a dangerous social outcast.

Not that dogs were given free rein either. Every single dog I saw had a collar on, often enough adorned by a red bandanna. And every one had their owner somewhere in sight.

No doubt this level of responsible pet ownership owes a good deal to the culture of compulsory registration and vaccination needed to control rabies. Munich is larger and richer than Bradford so perhaps the comparison is slightly unfair, but it certainly makes life more pleasant both for those who do own dogs and for those who do not.

It is the poorly-controlled, poorly-trained latchkey dog that gives dogs a bad name and causes problems for other people.

I talked to the owner of a dog that had been responsible for a horrendous attack on a child. It was clear that they regarded themselves not as the committed owner responsible for training and controlling the dog, but as a sort of accidental temporary keeper of a dog that had wished on them.

Being a responsible pet owner is not hugely expensive. It should involve regular worming and vaccination and preferably a microchip neutering and some health insurance, but it is mainly about supervision and training. At heart it is an attitude of mind.

What of cats in Munich? My greatest surprise was that I never caught a single glimpse of one, even though there are actually more cats and than dogs in the city. Neutered vaccinated and controlled, they lead totally indoor lives. Are they happy? On the whole I think indoor cats are.

Kittens born outside with little human contact in their early lives are unlikely to adapt well unless rehomed when very young. Research shows that it is the sights, sounds and smells that they are exposed to between three and 11 weeks that sets the pattern for their later behaviour. So long as indoor cats have toys and human company, proper access to clean food and water as well as a clean litter tray, they can be happy.

Neutering is a must though. Tom cat urine is too pungent to live with and the howls of a she-cat in heat will certainly prevent sleep. Given a regular claw-clip and provided you do not also want to have blown-vinyl wall paper which cats find irresistible to scratch, thousand-pound wool carpets that are liable to induce a similar reaction, indoor cats can be very happy and much less likely to get hurt.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.