Cost of keeping a dog still hot topic

SHANGHAI - Dog owners in the city are expected to pay less for their pets' registrations and immunizations after a controversial stipulation requiring owners to pay for their dogs' immunizations was removed from the draft amendment to the Shanghai Animal Epidemic Prevention Regulation on Tuesday.

But who will pay for compulsory immunizations against animal epidemics has not yet been drafted into the amendment.

There are about 800,000 pet dogs in Shanghai but only about a quarter of them are registered and licensed.