Lisa Carducci: Not every dog can have its day

New Zealand, a country spread over about 270,000 square kilometers and with a population of 4.3 million, has at least 43 million sheep, that is, 10 per person. Paris is infamous for the dog excreta on sidewalks that force people to keep their eyes down while walking. But complaints about these domestic animals being a nuisance to the public are rare.

Shanghai, a city of about 6,400 sq km and nearly 20 million people, has about 600,000 to 800,000 dogs. AFP reported in 2009 that about 164,000 dog owners had got licenses for about 200,000 dogs, that is, only 20 percent of what many say is the actual number. But on average 100,000 dog attacks a year have been recorded since 2006, with the number rising to 140,000 in 2009. This is where Shanghai is different from Paris or New Zealand.

Deng Zixin, a deputy to the Shanghai city people's congress, told the Xinhua News Agency that the dog ownership problem "was getting out of hand". If dog ownership is not better managed, dogs could become a bigger nuisance for people with their barking, biting and littering.

Perhaps that is why Shanghai is set to follow Chengdu and Guangzhou in allowing a household to own only one dog from next year.

More than 55,000 people die of rabies across the world every year, according to the World Health Organization. And China is second only to India on the list of countries with the highest number of rabies deaths.

Though rabies can be prevented if people have their dogs vaccinated, a 2009 BioMed Central report said that 60 percent of the Chinese cities its survey covered had a vaccination rate of less than 70 percent.

If, as the draft regulation on keeping dogs recommends, the authorities allow one household to keep only one dog, many people are likely to continue having several dogs but registering just one of them. The draft suggests that the number of dogs a family can have will depend on the size of its house, its rural or urban area nature and the open space in its compound.

Initially, there was confusion whether the authorities would catch stray dogs and put them in rehabilitation centers or whether they would put the dogs to death after waiting for 30 days for their owners to claim them. But later, Ding Wei, a local official, clarified that only dogs infected with diseases like rabies would be culled and that the draft was blank on how the rest would be treated.

There are legal and humane ways to keep the number of dogs under control. Sterilization is easy and safe way to do that. It is also cost-saving. But it is important that pet owners are made to realize its advantages.

Dogs and cats loiter in streets because of irresponsible people who drive them away for one reason or the other. Pet ownership should come with responsibility. People should teach their pets not to go about sniffing or licking or attacking people in the streets.

The draft regulation should not be opposed. Laws curtail the freedom of certain groups for the greater benefit of society. There is nothing inhumane in the draft. On the contrary, it may create greater awareness among pet owners and put to practical use the 2010 World Expo's slogan of "Better City, Better Life" in Shanghai.

The author is a Canadian scholar now based in Beijing.