China's capital is to implement a "one dog" policy for each
household in its latest bid to fight rabies which claimed 318 lives
nationwide in September.
The measure was announced in a circular from the city's Public
Security Bureau, Agriculture Bureau, Administration for Industry
and Commerce and the city's law enforcement authorities for urban
administration.
It demarcates nine management zones: Dongcheng, Xicheng,
Chongwen, Xuanwu, Chaoyang, Haidian, Fengtai, Shijingshan and
Yizhuang Economic Development Zone.
Only one pet dog is allowed per household in the zones, and
dangerous and large dogs will be banned. Anyone keeping an
unlicensed dog will face prosecution.
In other Beijing districts, large and ferocious dogs must be
restrained or locked up, and dog owners are prohibited from taking
them into public places.
Owners are required to have their dogs inoculated regularly.
The abandonment of dogs has become an offence. Owners who wish
to dispose of their pets should hand them over to local dog control
authorities.
The circular forbids keepers to take their dogs to markets,
stores, commercial areas, hotels, parks, public greens, schools,
hospitals, exhibition halls, cinemas and theaters, gymnasiums,
community gym zones, amusement parks, railway waiting rooms and
sightseeing areas.
Pet dogs must be on a leash and led by an adult in public, the
circular says.
The Ministry of Health website shows that 2,660 people in China
died of rabies in 2004, compared with 159 reported fatalities in
1996.
In the first three quarters of this year, the country recorded
2,254 rabies cases, an increase of 29.69 percent over the same
period last year.
(Xinhua News Agency November 8, 2006)