People familiar with the market for pet dogs in China are urging the government to raise taxes on dog breeders to eliminate rampant profiteering in this largely unregulated sector, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.

In the latest example of the soaring profits to be made in the country's pet-dog market, Beijia Pet Shop in Shanghai sold a three-month-old Chow Chow last week for 550,000 yuan (US$70,513).

"I have sold 11 pet dogs for 7.1 million yuan (US$910,256) in the past two months," said the shop owner.

Dog-ownership has been on many people's minds in the capital recently as authorities have sought to combat the spread of rabies. The campaign has apparently not dissuaded many pet lovers from splashing out on what they think are expensive dog breeds.

Yang Zhenshan, manager of the Aisida Famous Pet Dog Market, Beijing's largest pet dog market, told Xinhua News Agency that because many people cannot tell the difference between a leading breed and a mongrel, dogs worth less than 1,000 yuan (US$128) regularly sell for twice that amount.

One of the most costly dog breeds being sold in Beijing at the moment is the Tibetan mastiff. This native of Northwest China's Qinghai Province sells for about 1,000 yuan (US$128) in its home province. This same breed generally fetches anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 yuan (US$3,846 to 6,410) in Beijing, with some particularly well-formed Tibetan mastiffs going for as much as 1 million yuan (US$128,205).

Yang said many new people had been lured into the dog-breeding market after hearing about the huge profits to be made.

Beijing has more than 300 large pet dog breeding farms.

"A large farm refers to one that can breed more than 50 pet dogs," Yang said. "But only around 10 per cent of the farms are licensed."

Hong Dayong, a professor at Renmin University of China, was quoted as saying that the government should impose higher taxes on the sale of dogs to end the profiteering.

(China Daily 12/04/2006 page3)