Rabies Outbreak Spurs Beijing to Ban Big Dogs, Destroy Strays

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Rabies Outbreak Spurs Beijing to Ban Big Dogs, Destroy Strays

By Lee Spears and Jason Gale

Bloomberg.com

November 8, 2006

 

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Over-sized dogs and those without photo identification in

Beijing are being snatched by the city police to curb the spread of rabies,

which has killed about 200 people a month in China this year.

 

Human rabies fatalities nationwide surged 30 percent to 1,817 in the first nine

months of the year, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and

Prevention. At least 10 deaths occurred in the capital, the official Xinhua news

agency said this month, as attacks by abandoned, rabid dogs escalate.

 

Police are killing strays before they can bite people, and ordering owners to

register their pets. Beginning Nov. 1, owners without a credit card-sized

license bearing their pet's photo will face fines of up to 5,000 yuan ($635) and

the confiscation of the animal. Beijing authorities also introduced a one-dog

per owner policy and is enforcing a decade-old ban on " violent and large dogs, "

such as German shepherds.

 

" There has been a significant rise in the number of human cases of rabies

particularly over the last three years in China, " said Julie Hall, the World

Health Organization's team leader for communicable diseases in Beijing. " This is

something that requires action. "

 

Police are stepping up enforcement as the rate of infection rises and China is

spending $34 billion in preparation for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. More than

8,900 unregistered dogs were nabbed in the city this year, Xinhua reported last

month.

 

My Sunshine

 

Even large-sized licensed dogs are being targeted. Yangguang is a registered and

vaccinated Golden Retriever, whose owners call a good-natured pet. Yet, they

found a notice on their front door last month advising that neighborhood

regulations deemed the dog a threat to safety and public health. If not gone

within a week, the notice said the dog would be impounded and possibly

destroyed.

 

" We see all the small dogs still in the neighborhood and think, how was our dog

any different? " said Li Meng, 26, who bought Yangguang, which means " Sunshine "

in Chinese, over the Internet for her father. The pet is now living with a

friend in another Beijing suburb. " It's hard to say whether they're really doing

this to control rabies or just to make money. "

 

Tactics deployed by the city's dog inspectors aren't always civil, said Jeff He,

a spokesman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Beijing. In one

case, a dog was beaten to death in front of its owner. Police have cut power and

water supply to homes suspected of abetting clandestine canines, he said.

 

Dog-bite injuries in Beijing are increasing by about 10,000 a year, and reached

70,000 in the first half, according to Xinhua. The trend is similar in other

cities.

 

Dog Beatings

 

Concern over the disease in August prompted organized squads of citizens in

Shanghai, and in Yunnan and Shandong provinces to organize to beat dogs to

death. Unvaccinated strays pose the greatest risk of spreading rabies in urban

areas, according to the WHO.

 

Rabid dogs and other carnivores can display aggression, excessive salivation and

erratic behavior. In humans, the early symptoms include fever, headache and a

general feeling of malaise that can last for as long as two years. Eventually

the virus travels to the brain, causing confusion, paralysis and hallucinations.

 

Those bitten by an infected animal can be vaccinated soon after the event. Once

the disease is allowed to progress and symptoms appear, though, death usually

occurs within a week.

 

New Epidemic?

 

Asia accounts for more than 80 percent of rabies cases worldwide, according to a

study by researchers in China and the U.K. published in December in Emerging

Infectious Diseases journal. In China, 103,200 people died of rabies in four

epidemic waves between 1950 and 2004, the study's authors said. Human cases are

now approaching levels not seen since the 1980s.

 

A " fifth epidemic wave of rabies that began in the 1990s is gaining momentum, "

the authors said. Abandoned dogs bear much the blame, they said.

 

" In China it is extortionately expensive to register an animal, " the WHO's Hall

said. Pets are often kept illegally and unvaccinated, she added, recommending

that vaccination be compulsory and cheap.

 

Initial registration costs 1,000 yuan ($127) and includes the first rabies

vaccination. The fee, including a booster shot, declines to 500 yuan in

subsequent years.

 

In New York, by contrast, the annual registration costs $2.50 for a dog that has

been neutered or spayed, and $10.50 for others. A rabies shot goes for about

$10.

 

Year of the Dog

 

China has about 150 million pet dogs. The number has climbed 30 percent in the

past five years, Euromonitor Plc said in a report last year. The market research

company attributes the increase to the desire among one-child households for an

extra companion and as a source of comfort for older people.

 

Gao Shanfeng, a retired 68-year-old, says he and his wife bought 7-month-old

cocker spaniel " Dudu " earlier this year to liven up their home in northeast

Beijing after their son moved out. The number of registered dogs has quadrupled

since 2002.

 

" My wife and I don't have a lot to talk about, so the dog is someone new to talk

to, " Gao said.

 

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