BEIJING: China's municipal authorities yesterday announced they would implement the 'one dog' policy allowing only one dog per household and banning large and dangerous dogs. The restriction was prompted by concerns about a spike in rabies deaths, Chinese officials said.
The policy was announced by the country's agriculture and commerce agencies which identified nine areas including Beijing where it was to be enforced. The government aims to reduce the incidence of rabies which has been surging along with a rise in the number of unregistered and stray dogs on China's streets.
The latest municipal records indicate 318 people from different places in China had died of rabies during September. Rabies deaths for the first nine months this year total up at 2,254, showing a rise of 30 percent from same period last year. Full year numbers were available only up to 2004 which listed 2,651 deaths from rabies.
The records also say that only 3 percent of China's total dog population is vaccinated against rabies, a viral infection of the nervous system that is invariably fatal unless the dog-bite victim gets prompt anti-rabies treatment.
China's urban population may find the policy another example of harshness by the authorities. In Beijing for instance, where families are restricted to one child per couple, loneliness and a rising standard of living prompts people to buy a pet for companionship.
In July and August, officials went through the streets at night making loud noise to ferret out stray and large dogs which were beaten to death on the spot. In several cases, dog owners were asked to perform the brutal task themselves. The mass slaughter provoked a huge outcry from animal lovers around the world. Animal welfare activists American Humane Society even offered $100,000 to the Chinese government to find a more humane way to control the rabies epidemic.
The country's official Xinhua News Agency warned that “anyone keeping an unlicensed dog will face prosecution”.
