Restrictions, criticism faced by dog owners

BEIJING: Zhang Lei held back tears as she recalled the day early last year she brought Maomao, a small black mongrel, home from a truck full of strays standing by the roadside in Beijing.

The dogs were on their way to a pound between the Fifth and Sixth Ring Roads in Changping district in the north of the capital, where some strays are sent every week.

Zhang, 25, who was a university student at the time, loves to take care of stray dogs, especially those around her former college campus in Haidian district.

In recent years, the number of dogs in Beijing has risen rapidly, in line with the situation nationwide.

According to the 2018 Chinese Pet Industry White Paper, there were 50.85 million dogs in China last year and the number of owners reached 33.9 million.

However, the burgeoning canine population has raised questions over how owners in large cities can get along with people who don’t have dogs.

Dog lovers have criticized strict local restrictions on the size of animals they can own and the hours during which they can be walked.

Others have blamed savage dogs which, in some cases, have been responsible for fatal attacks.

Since 1994, the regulations governing dog ownership in Beijing have been revised twice.

Before that year, keeping the animals was strictly prohibited in the city.

Under a regulation introduced in November 1994, owners must register their dogs and have them immunized regularly against disease.

The regulation also stated that they must pay an annual 5,000 yuan (RM2,900) administrative fee.

Drafted by the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress, the regulation is thought to have been the first of its kind in China relating to dog ownership.