(CN) A Real Threat for Urban People

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Transcript of radio program on China Radio International. Program can be heard

by going to http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/3178/2006/11/06/61 (AT) 159298 (DOT) htm.

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A Real Threat for Urban People

" Frontline " /China Radio International

Broadcasting Time: 2006-11-06

 

Hello, and welcome to another edition of " Frontline, " China Radio

International's weekly feature program. I'm your host, Wujia.

 

Dogs are said to be a human's best friend. Nowadays, when you stroll along city

streets in China, especially during the morning or the evening, you will see

many people are out walking their dog. It is becoming a common urban scene in

China.

 

Those lovely pets are regarded as a family member by more and more people.

However, while dogs can bring lots of fun and laughter, they can also cause

increasingly serious problems if not taken care of properly. Our reporter Shen

Ting has more.

 

At Beijing's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, many people are waiting

for the treatment for a dog's bite.

 

There is a little girl lying in her mother's arms. The mother said her

3-year-old daughter was bitten by a dog belonging to one of their neighbors.

 

" She was just playing with the dog. She loves doing that. The dog never hurt her

before. They were like friends. But I don't know why today it suddenly bit my

girl when she touched it. "

 

The chief physician at the medical center, Zhang Xuechun, said the child must

immediately receive a rabies vaccination, because she could be in danger of

developing the deadly disease.

 

" Her wound was quite serious. If the dog was carrying the rabies virus, it would

be a high possibility for the girl to develop the disease in a short time. Under

such circumstances, we have to first give her an injection of anti-rabies blood

serum and then the vaccine. Meanwhile, we also clean the wound and give her

tetanus shot. "

 

Enjoying ones' free time by playing with a pet can also have its price. During

the week-long National Day Holidays at the beginning of October, the number of

people in Beijing who got bitten by dogs and needed the rabies vaccine rose

sharply.

 

The Beijing University People's Hospital gave rabies vaccinations to more than

200 people during the first half of the holiday week. There were so many people

that they had to queue up outside the vaccination room.

 

During the four days following the holiday, the China-Japan Friendship Hospital

also inoculated 500 people, including 100 who had been bitten by dogs.

 

Ling Feng, a doctor at the hospital, said the daily injection rate was 20

percent higher than normal. Most people were adults who had been playing with

their dogs at home, and some were even bitten in their sleep.

 

Another had been bitten during a dog fight in an elevator. Some were attacked by

unchained dogs whose owners were taking them for a walk in the neighborhood.

 

Ling Feng said rabies is a serious disease with a high human death rate.

 

" Rabies, often spread by dog bites, attacks the nervous system and is fatal in

humans if not treated prior to the onset of symptoms. The virus can infect

people through bites and scratches, no matter how serious or the injury. "

 

Every year, more than 50,000 people around the world die of the disease, most of

them in developing countries.

 

China ranks second in the world after India in terms of the number of rabies

cases in humans.

 

According to China's Ministry of Health, rabies killed more people in China than

any other infectious disease for five consecutive months up to September. Prior

to May, tuberculosis had topped the list.

 

The Ministry reported a total of more than 1,800 rabies cases in the country

during the first eight months of this year, with over 1,700 deaths.

 

The figure is up 30 percent over last year. It also shows the incidence of the

disease has been rising throughout the country this year.

 

The cases were found in 21 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities

across China, including Guizhou, Guangxi, Hunan, Guangdong and Hubei.

 

The Ministry revealed that around 400 cases of rabies were reported nationwide

in September alone, an increase of 37 percent compared with the same period last

year.

 

Tang Qing is a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and

Prevention.

 

" There are mainly two reasons that caused the rise in rabies cases in China

recently. One is that the number of pets keeps increasing, but the regulations

and vaccination of pets still lag behind. The other reason is that the public

lacks relevant knowledge on rabies and necessary self-protection awareness. "

 

Zhang Xuechun, chief physician at Beijing's Center for Disease Control and

Prevention, echoed Tang Qing's view.

 

" The fact that more than 70,000 residents were bitten by dogs during the first

six months of this year in Beijing alone sends a message that quite a number of

dog owners do not have such awareness. Once a person develops rabies symptoms,

no hospital can save his or her life. Meanwhile, more and more people have been

aware of the threat. Last year, 80,000 Beijing residents received the vaccine.

This year even more people are getting the vaccination. "

 

Behind these figures is the rapid increase in the number of pet dogs in the

country over the past several decades.

 

Huang Zhimin is a director at Beijing's Municipal Public Security Bureau.

 

" In 2003, Beijing's regulations on pet dogs had some adjustments, lowering the

registration and management fee for dogs. That prompted more local residents to

register their dogs. Now there are more than 500,000 registered pet dogs in

Beijing. "

 

The total number of dogs across the country is estimated at 150 million.

 

There is nothing wrong with citizens keeping a pet dog. But if the dog is not

kept in an appropriate and civilized manner, the animal may become a source of

trouble in daily life or even stir up legal battles. Shen Ting will have more

after this break. Stay with us.

 

In Beijing, according to the regulations and management of pets, dogs are not

allowed to be taken into public places, such as markets, department stores,

hotels, commercial streets, and parks. When walking a dog outside, the owner is

asked to keep it on a leash and pick up its excrement.

 

But those are just the rules on paper. How about the real situation?

 

After investigating the situation, we found that many pet owners do not fulfill

these duties. Some don't even put their dog on a leash when it's outside, and

some don't clean up their pets' droppings on the street. Some even brought their

dog into local farm produce markets.

 

" I don't think it's necessary to put my dog on a leash when we walk outside My

dog is very docile and it doesn't bark at or bite people. "

 

" I think it's ok for my dog to urinate outside. And I pick up its droppings. "

 

Such a way of keeping a pet is indeed problematic, and many people interviewed

said dogs have caused a lot of trouble in their daily lives. Some even said

their feeling towards pet dogs have changed from friendly to annoyed or even

scared.

 

" For example, when you get in an elevator, the space is already crowded enough

with 6 or 7 people. Then you suddenly find that behind you there is a dog just

under your neck in its owner's arms. How do you feel then? "

 

" Some dogs really cause a disturbance. You know, they can bark all night long.

It's so terribly annoying that sometimes I can't get to sleep all night. "

 

" I'm pregnant. Every time I see unchained dogs on the street, I feel scared and

get goose-bumbs. I worry that it will suddenly jump up at me or bite me. "

 

Not properly looking after or controlling one's dog can not only bring criticism

or neighborly disputes, but sometimes even lawsuits.

 

Xin Teng is an 11-year-old boy living in Beijing's Fengtai district. In May, he

was attacked by his neighbor's pet demi-wolf, which is actually not allowed to

be kept in any of Beijing's 8 districts.

 

The terrible experience still gives the boy nightmares.

 

" That was a big demi-wolf. That day on my way home, when I passed the neighbor's

house, the dog suddenly jumped at me and bit me on the leg. I couldn't move or

run away. "

 

Xin Teng said the attack left him with not only scars on his body, but also

mental trauma.

 

" Since that day, I have been very scared of dogs. Every time when I hear one

bark, I think of that bad day and feel scared. I always wake up scared from

nightmares. And the bite still hurts. "

 

Though Xin Teng received the rabies vaccine and other necessary treatment, his

parents still worry about their son's future situation, as the latent period for

the disease can be up to 20 years.

 

In August, they filed a lawsuit in the local court, asking for proper

compensation from their neighbor, the owner of the demi-wolf.

 

Chen Yi, a judge in the Chaoyang People's Court, said the number of such legal

disputes caused by pets is increasing year by year. In 2003, they heard three

such cases, while, in 2004, the number rose to 15. It's still going up this

year.

 

" Many such cases involve a dog biting people. Most citizens live in apartment

buildings nowadays. Given such living conditions, and the limited public

recreational space in residential areas, pet owners must be aware that their

beloved animals should never threaten or negatively affect the normal lives of

their fellow residents. We hope dog owners can keep their pets in a civilized

way. "

 

Two months ago, there was a string of cases of pet dogs being poisoned in

several residential areas in the capital.

 

62-year-old Wang Shufen is a local resident in Fang Xingyuan community in the

southern part of Beijing. Each day, she would usually take her beloved little

dog, Le Le, to play at a big platform near the building where she lives. But,

one day in August, a terrible thing happened to her dog.

 

" After we got home from a walk outside, Le Le was drinking a lot of water. I

could see he was very uncomfortable and getting sick.

 

Shortly after, the little dog died. In the following days, another 10 pet dogs

were also dead from unknown causes in this community. The owners then found

poisoned chicken livers on the platform where they took their dogs to play.

 

The resident said she and other owners buried their pets' remains in a little

forest in the community. But that aroused disagreement from other residents

living there.

 

" They buried their dead dogs in the forest. It really stunk and could have

become a source of contamination and spread diseases. "

 

According to China's Law on Animal Epidemic Prevention, animals that die for

unknown reasons should be dealt with in a special way to avoid possibly

spreading diseases. However, currently there are no such facilities in Beijing.

 

Li Luquan is the director of Beijing inspection department on veterinary

hygiene.

 

" The Beijing Agricultural Bureau is working with other departments and

organizations to set up a complete system for dealing with the remains of

animals that for unknown reasons. "

 

A national campaign to promote responsible dog ownership is unfolding after the

country's health ministry warned that rabies has become the No 1 killer of

infectious diseases in the country during the past five months. Shen Ting has

more.

 

The capital city Beijing has begun a two-month campaign on the enforcement of

dog ownership regulations, aimed at registering all domestic dogs and ensuring

their inoculation.

 

The campaign, jointly launched by the public security and health bureaus, has

set up hotlines to publicize information on dog-raising and encourage residents

to report rule violations.

 

Wei Chuanzhong is an official from Beijing's Municipal Agriculture Bureau.

 

" We will inspect kennels and check the registration of pet dogs in an effort to

prevent a rabies outbreak. Pet owners who have not yet registered their dogs

must let their animals be vaccinated against rabies. "

 

The city's dog registration office reported that over 500,000 dogs are

registered, but statistics from the Beijing Association of Small Animal

Protection show that there are over 1 million dogs in the city.

 

In a major step, Beijing police shut down a local underground dog trade market

in Tongzhou District and confiscated 80 unregistered and illegally-traded dogs.

 

Many dog owners in the district also organized a volunteer movement to clean up

dog droppings on the street.

 

" We set up a pet association, gathering together many dog owners in the nearby

communities. We exchange our experience on how to keep our pets in a more

civilized way. Now all of us have better awareness, especially about bringing

our dogs into public places. "

 

Officials say dog owners in the city will also face harsh penalties in the

future if their pet-keeping behaviour is in violation of regulations.

 

Their dogs may be confiscated and they may be fined up to 5,000 yuan, or 600 US

dollars, if they keep a dog without a permit, fail to carry out annual health

checks on their pets, keep big dogs in downtown areas, have more than one dog at

one home or take them to places where dogs are not permitted.

 

A public health watchdog organization in Guangzhou, the capital of South China's

Guangdong Province, is encouraging owners of both registered and unregistered

dogs to vaccinate their dogs by offering subsidies to a certain number of them.

 

According to Chen Zhong, dean of the city's Animal Disease Prevention Institute,

the city also planned to give an electric identitification collar to every dog

in order to track its health information.

 

Additionally, local health authorities in Shanghai recently issued a public

notice to warn against the rising number of dog-related injuries and called for

more attention to be paid to timely medical treatment once people are bitten.

 

According to statistics from Shanghai's health bureau, 50,000 dog-bite incidents

were reported in the 28 rabies clinics in the city during the first seven months

of this year, up 18 per cent from the same period last year.

 

The present campaign has won praise from local residents, however, they stressed

that the solution truly lies in raising awareness among dog owners.

 

Professor Xue Lan is from the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua

University.

 

" We have to take our country's real situation into consideration with regards to

pet-ownership. The population density in China is much higher than in many

western countries. Compared with foreign people, Chinese people have smaller

public spaces. So when we do something in public, we must consider whether such

behavior will affect our neighbors or other people. That requires stronger moral

standards and higher self-restraint. Only by doing that can we live and develop

in a more harmonious, safer and happier environment. "

 

Experts also point out that irresponsible dog-raising has not only disturbed

neighborhoods, but also neglected the rights of the pets. Only when every

pet-owner has a higher awareness and capacity for pet protection can the problem

be fundamentally solved.

 

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