In America, when people say “man’s best friend”, they don’t mean another person. Instead, they are talking about a lovely animal — the dog! These words show how people love animals. Dogs and other pets can bring fun to people’s lives. Some people think of their pets as their children. Some people even leave all their money to their pets when they die!

Animals can help people, too. Dogs can be the “eyes” for a blind person or the “ears” for a deaf person. Scientists have found that pets help people live longer! They make people happier, too. Because of that, animals are brought into hospitals for “visits”.

Americans have “Be Kind to Animals Week” in the first week of May. They have pet shows during the week. Even if (即使) you don’t live in America, you too, can do this. How? First, think about how animals make your life lively. If you have a pet, spend more time this week playing with it. Remember to give it delicious food.

If you don t have a pet, be kind to animals around you. For example, if you see a street dog, just leave it alone, or make friends with it. If others around you do bad things to the animals, try to stop them. As human beings, we must protect animals, because they are our friends.

For many dog owners, walking their pet may be one of the happiest moments in a day. It is a time to relax themselves and their pets.

However, for dog owners in Wenshan city in Yunnan province, walking their dog has just become more inconvenient.

The city announced that dog owners mustn’t walk their pets in urban（城市的）areas from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Some people agree with the rule, saying it makes people feel safer.

“It is from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. that people are very active, and the rule could help avoid conflicts （冲突）between dogs and people,” reporter Gong Dazhong wrote for the newspaper.

Others say the rule is inconvenient for pet owners and their pets.

“Everybody’s situation is different, but the rule is too strict,” a Wenshan pet owner told The Beijing News.

The rule was introduced because of the growing number of conflicts between dog owners and people walking on the street. Early this month, a dog owner in Hangzhou shouted at a woman who tried to drive an unleashed（未栓绳的） dog away as it started barking at her son. A fight followed.

Wang Yukai, a professor in Beijing, said that not allowing pet owners to walk their dogs from 7 am to 10 pm is a bad idea, although Wenshan’s rule is well-intentioned（好意的）. Efforts to prevent conflicts should pay attention to making sure that dog owners raise their dogs properly, Wang told The Beijing News.

It’s more and more often for us to see wild animals enter cities. This gives people in cities more chances to learn about wildlife but also leads to conflicts (冲突) between people and wildlife.

In Berlin, pigs sometimes come into the city to look for food. They eat flowers and plants in parks and gardens. Some people like them and give them food and water. Other people don’t like them. They want the government and the police to stop pigs entering the city.

Animals can be dangerous when they are big enough. In Cape Town in South Africa, baboons (狒狒) come into the city when they are hungry. They go into gardens and eat fruit from trees. They even go into houses and take food from cupboards and fridges! They are big and strong animals, so they can scare people. But the city can be dangerous for baboons too. Sometimes, cars and buses kill baboons in accidents. People’s food is very bad for the baboons’ teeth because it has a lot of sugar.

People in cities need animals because nature is good for our busy brains. If we want to make our city a good place for wild animals to live in, we need to make safe ways for them to travel around it.