The Beijing authorities have begun a two-month campaign to
reinforce regulations on dog ownership in the capital in the wake
of a rising number of rabies cases across China.
The campaign, which kicked off on Saturday, is aimed at
registering all dogs in Beijing and ensuring they are inoculated.
Inspections will be carried out, information on how to look after
dogs will be issued and the public will be asked to voice their
opinions.
Dog owners will be offered regular training to popularize
relevant regulations and encouraged to report any violations via a
hotline.
The campaign target is a tall order. According to the office for
dog raising in Beijing, over 550,000 dogs are registered in the
city. But statistics from the Beijing Association of Small Animal
Protection show that there are over one million dogs in
Beijing.
Although 277 inoculation stations have been set up all over the
city, five rabies cases were reported out of the 70,000 pet-related
injuries incurred by Beijingers in the first half of this year.
Rabies has been on the increase in the last ten years. In
September alone there were 393 rabies cases nationwide with 318
deaths, 37 percent up on September of last year, and double the
number of cases during the whole of 1996. Rabies has caused the
most deaths out of all diseases for five straight months in
China.
(Xinhua News Agency October 23, 2006)
