On Tantalus, satisfaction at last.

, including bills to ease access for pets to public transport.“The city has come a long way, but I believe it now has the obligation to take a bigger leap,” said local lawmaker Emmanuel Ferrario. His centrist “Vamos por más” (Let’s go for more) party has presented five such bills now being debated in

. One seeks to create a registry of dog walkers who must pass an exam every two years and undergo CPR and animal behavior training.Co-owner Rocio Dominguez offers a treat to Tony, one of her regulars, at Chumbis, an artisanal bakery for animals, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)Co-owner Rocio Dominguez offers a treat to Tony, one of her regulars, at Chumbis, an artisanal bakery for animals, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

“I see an opportunity for it to become the most pet-friendly city in the region,” Ferrario said.Other politicians fret about the proliferation of pet-keeping as a symptom of a bigger crisis. They ask why young people in Argentina choose raising pets over raising children as the country ages rapidly.

“The rankings (of pet ownership) are unsettling. ... Buenos Aires has so many dogs and so few children,” said Clara Muzzio, the city’s conservative deputy mayor. “A world with fewer children is a worse world.”

Perhaps Argentina’s most prominent dog fanatic is its right-wingA tractor clears farmland in Agritopia, a community nestled around a plot of agricultural land, on Sunday, April 22, 2025, in Gilbert, Ariz. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)

For some who live here, this place is more than a typical neighborhood. In Agritopia’s “kid pod,” a cluster of families with 23 kids between them, parents let the young ones roam freely, knowing at least one guardian will always be looking out for them. The rest of the parents make dinner or plan a date night. Just across the street, a peach and citrus orchard sways in the breeze, occasionally wafting the smells of fruit into front yards.Maria Padron lives in the “kid pod” with her husband and two children. She loves living in Agritopia for the sense of camaraderie with her neighbors.

Maria Padron, center, plays with her daughter Fae Padron, 4, right, in a “kid pod,” a cluster of families with more than 20 kids between them, at Agritopia, a community nestled around a plot of agricultural land, April 21, 2025, in Gilbert, Ariz. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)Maria Padron, center, plays with her daughter Fae Padron, 4, right, in a “kid pod,” a cluster of families with more than 20 kids between them, at Agritopia, a community nestled around a plot of agricultural land, April 21, 2025, in Gilbert, Ariz. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag)