(CN) Dog owners fuming over size restrictions

[Guest guest]

BEIJING 2008

Reuters in Beijing

Jul 18, 2008

South China Morning Post

 

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As darkness falls over Beijing, dog owners such as Deng Xiaozhi nervously

leave their homes with pets in tow for a walk or run in parks, safe in the

knowledge that city dog catchers are off duty.

 

A Beijing law making it illegal to keep dogs taller than 35cm means that

animals such as Mr Deng's placid golden retriever are outlawed, and can be

locked up and put down if intercepted by the authorities.

 

Pet ownership on the mainland is booming, and dog-lovers in particular

complain about Beijing's inflexible laws against large dogs, which they say

harks back to the past, when few people kept dogs as pets, and those who did

were scorned as bourgeois time-wasters by late leader Mao Zedong.

 

" The 35cm rule is not scientific, as most big pet dogs are quieter than

smaller ones in reality, " Mr Deng said as he lay on the couch alongside his

dog, Maomao. " People who make the rules have no knowledge whatsoever of

dogs. "

 

As pets become popular on the mainland, Beijing dog owners are also fuming

over the hefty annual licence fees for small dogs of as much as 1,000 yuan

(HK$1,146).

 

The ban is strictly enforced. Even a partially blind Paralympic medallist is

unable to get her guide dog registered ahead of the Olympics, and the

Paralympics in September, when she is due to run with the torch in the

opening ceremony.

 

Mr Deng said: " I know it's pet owners' responsibility to register their

dogs, but current regulations don't allow me to do so. For big dogs, being

captured by the police almost always leads to a dead end. "

 

The capital's 17 million residents registered 703,897 pet dogs last year, up

17.3 per cent from 600,096 in 2006. The number is probably much higher after

factoring in unregistered dogs.

 

Foreign diplomats, exempt from the size rule, are often seen parading huge

golden retrievers, Siberian huskies and labradors along leafy streets.

 

But Beijingers, bound by the rules, more often opt for chihuahuas or

pekinese.

 

Some dog owners and animal activists worry about a clampdown after the

Olympics when Beijing is no longer in the spotlight and subject to an

international outcry for its policy on dogs.