Dogs to be banned from areas of city

NGO slams decision as animal abuse, citing growing public concerns

A proposal to forbid dogs from certain areas of Beijing to reduce noise pollution and animal waste is being labeled as "animal abuse" by an NGO.

Recent police statistics show that Beijing now has around 900,000 registered dogs. With that number on the increase, the downside of raising dogs in a city, such as excessive noise and feces, are a growing public concern.

He Defang, a representative to the annual legislative meeting, due to be held from today, will propose to limit the "playgrounds" of dogs, according to the Mirror Evening News.

He said current rules on dog ownership need to be updated, and the rights of dog owners are just as important as those of everyone else.

Exact areas were not specified in the proposal, but hospitals, kindergartens, business centers and some major streets were included in a general sense.

Lu Di, chairwoman of the China Small Animal Protection Association, criticized the proposal as "non-scientific".

"All people across the city have the right to walk their dogs. The proposal could change the routines of the owners and the lives of the animals," she told METRO yesterday.

"The proposal violates the rights of dogs and their owners," she said.

Lu said dog owners usually pay about 1,000 yuan in the first year of a dog's life for licensing and another 500 yuan annually afterwards.

She said an animal needs more than just money to be looked after.

There are around 700 dogs in the association's shelter and they share a playground of 10,000 sq m, the animal rights activist in her 80s said.

"They love running and playing, even in the winter. Forbidding dogs from walking is the same as animal abuse," Lu added.

Wang Xiaojing, owner of an eight-month-old poodle, is worried about the future of her dog if the proposal goes into effect.

"I walk my dog twice a day; half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening. She always uses this chance to go to the toilet since we don't allow her to do it in the apartment," Wang said.

Wang said she prepares old newspapers and toilet paper to clean after her dog, but noted that most people don't do the same.

"There are a lot of dog feces outside my community. It's really annoying. If more people bothered to clean after their pets, maybe we wouldn't be hated so much," she said.

(China Daily 01/25/2010 page26)