Dog keepers in Beijing will face harsh punishment in the future if they raise their pets in violation of relevant stipulations, according to local public security authorities on Sunday.

They will see their pet dogs confiscated or be fined for 5,000 yuan (US$625) at most if they keep a dog without a permit, fail annual health check-up on their pets, keep big dogs in downtown area, have more than one dog at one family and bring their pets to wrong places or at wrong times, said Tang Yunli, deputy head of the public security brigade of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

Tang said they have begun a two-week-long inspection on dog-raising in the city starting Saturday.

The annual registration of pet dogs in the city between May 1 and June 30 show that Beijing has a record 534,520 pet dogs, 75,747 dogs more than that for the corresponding period of last year, Tang said.

They dealt with 4,891 cases involving illegally keeping dogs during the period, Tang said.

Police officers also spread information about rabies for the purpose of improving the public's awareness of the fatal disease.

Beijing has seen a gradual increase in rabies cases in recent years due to the increase of pet cats and dogs raised by citizens, according to experts.

(Xinhua News Agency July 3, 2006)