A controversial new regulation limiting dog ownership to one animal per household became effective this month in Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong province.

Luo Zhenhui, deputy director of the municipal public security bureau, said that the bureau intends to enforce the new one-dog rule.

According to the regulation, a dog owner can be fined 2,000 yuan for having more than one dog.

"We encourage residents to send their dogs to the bureau if they want to dispose of them. Police will also seize dogs illegally kept, based on public reports," said a police officer who declined to give his name.

The city is gearing up for the Asian Games next year.

It is widely believed that the one-dog policy, which attracted public complaints when it was announced in March, is meant to reduce the city's dog population in advance of the event.

"If each family can only keep one dog, I'm sure that the number of stray dogs will increase," said a woman who only agreed to allow publication of her surname Ye.

"How would the authorities deal with those stray dogs? Why don't you let me keep them and take care of them?" the woman asked.

Some who don't own dogs also consider the one-dog rule harsh.

"No matter how many dogs one keeps, the most important thing is that the owner raises the dogs in a proper way to avoid bringing trouble to others," said a resident in the city's Huangpu District.

The new regulation includes a reduction in the cost of dog registration fees from 10,000 yuan to 500 yuan.

Luo of the local security bureau said the goal of that price reduction is to encourage more people to register their dogs.

The bureau estimated that the number of unregistered dog in Guangzhou has reached 100,000, even though only 800 dogs are registered.

"The high fee for dog registration required by the old regulation that had been in effect since 1997 had not been effective in restricting the dog population in the city," said Chen Xiaoqing, director of the commission for legislative affairs of the municipal legislature.

Illegal dog ownership has been blamed for causing diseases such as rabies, which broke out in several Chinese cities this year.

"The new dog registration fee is more reasonable, so that there won't be so many people evading registration," said a dog owner who said his surname was Lian.

Lian added that, he too, was upset with the one-dog limit.

Xinhua

(China Daily 07/20/2009 page10)