Beijing Police Refute Dog-owners' Claims

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Beijing Police Refute Dog-owners' Claims

CRIENGLISH.com

2006-11-14

 

The Public Security Bureau in China's capital has refuted some dog-owners'

online statements that criticize the strict implementation of a new " one dog per

household " policy, calling the comments misleading.

 

In the articles published on the internet, dog owners claimed security officers

forced them to give up their dogs. They said it was offensive to have their dogs

abruptly seized, and claimed that the dogs were taken away to be slaughtered.

 

But the bureau says this is untrue. They explained that the security officers

were simply implementing the new regulation, by urging citizens to give up

second dogs or aggressive dogs. They revealed that the bureau's special office

that is managing the registration of dogs has taken in a total of 500 stray dogs

and family dogs that are temporarily detained, by November 13th.

 

Without effective control, stray dogs have become a social problem: in the first

half of this year, 70,000 people in Beijing have reported being bitten or

scratched by dogs, and had to get rabies vaccines.

 

The bureau adds that the strict implementation of the dog-control measures

mainly aims to solve nine prominent problems, including the raising of large or

vicious dogs, unlicensed dogs, one household owning more than one dog, and

owners bringing their dogs to public places.

 

The bureau notes that any dog owners who no longer want to keep their pets may

drop them off at their local police station. Meanwhile, citizens eligible to

keep a dog are invited to adopt such previously-owned dogs, and can call the

station for details.

 

Last week, the bureau announced a recent bid to fight rabies, by implementing

the " one dog per household " measure. Rabies claimed 318 lives nationwide in

September alone.

 

The Ministry of Health website shows that in the first three quarters of this

year, the country recorded 2,254 rabies cases in humans, an increase of over 29

percent compared to the same period last year.

 

Photo:

Citizens eligible to own a dog are invited to adopt such previously-owned dogs,

and can call the station for details. [File Photo: beijingnews.com]

http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/mmsource/images/2006/11/14/4354dog.jpg

 

http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/2946/2006/11/14/176 (AT) 162699 (DOT) htm