No big dogs allowed in Beijing
- added July 18, 2008
- 2 responses
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- smorrisey
- added this
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A Beijing law makes it illegal to keep dogs taller than 35 centimeters (1.1 foot)
As darkness falls over Beijing, dog owners such as Deng Xiaozhi nervously leave their homes with pets in tow for a walk or run in parks safe with the knowledge that city dog catchers have already clocked. Deng's placid Golden Retriever and other big dogs are outlaws and can be locked up and put down if they are intercepted by the authorities in the Olympic city.
Pet ownership in China is booming and dog lovers in particular complain about Beijing's inflexible laws against large dogs which they say harks back to China's communist past when few people kept dogs as pets, and those that did were scorned as bourgeois timewasters by communist leader Mao Zedong.
"The 35-cm rule is not scientific, as most big pet dogs are quieter than smaller ones in reality," Deng said as he lay on the couch alongside his dog Maomao. "People who make the rules have no knowledge whatsoever of dogs."
As pets become popular in China, Beijing dog owners are bristling over the city ban on large dogs and hefty annual license fees for small dogs of as much as 1,000 yuan (73 pounds).
The ban is strictly enforced. Even a partially blind Paralympic medalist is unable to get her guide dog registered ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics in September when she is due to run with the torch at the opening ceremony.
"I know it's pet owners' responsibility to register their dogs, but current regulation doesn't allow me to do so," said Deng. "For big dogs, being captured by the police almost always leads to a dead end."
Beijing's 17 million residents registered 703,897 pet dogs in 2007, up 17.3 percent from 600,096 in 2006. The number is probably much higher after factoring in unregistered dogs such as Lucky
Foreign diplomats are exempt from the size rule, and are often spotted parading huge Golden Retrievers, Siberian Huskies and Labradors along leafy streets.
But Beijingers, bound by the rules, more often opt for tiny Chihuahuas or the city's white fluffy namesake, the Pekinese.
As darkness falls over Beijing, dog owners such as Deng Xiaozhi nervously leave their homes with pets in tow for a walk or run in parks safe with the knowledge that city dog catchers have already clocked. Deng's placid Golden Retriever and other big dogs are outlaws and can be locked up and put down if they are intercepted by the authorities in the Olympic city.
Pet ownership in China is booming and dog lovers in particular complain about Beijing's inflexible laws against large dogs which they say harks back to China's communist past when few people kept dogs as pets, and those that did were scorned as bourgeois timewasters by communist leader Mao Zedong.
"The 35-cm rule is not scientific, as most big pet dogs are quieter than smaller ones in reality," Deng said as he lay on the couch alongside his dog Maomao. "People who make the rules have no knowledge whatsoever of dogs."
As pets become popular in China, Beijing dog owners are bristling over the city ban on large dogs and hefty annual license fees for small dogs of as much as 1,000 yuan (73 pounds).
The ban is strictly enforced. Even a partially blind Paralympic medalist is unable to get her guide dog registered ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics in September when she is due to run with the torch at the opening ceremony.
"I know it's pet owners' responsibility to register their dogs, but current regulation doesn't allow me to do so," said Deng. "For big dogs, being captured by the police almost always leads to a dead end."
Beijing's 17 million residents registered 703,897 pet dogs in 2007, up 17.3 percent from 600,096 in 2006. The number is probably much higher after factoring in unregistered dogs such as Lucky
Foreign diplomats are exempt from the size rule, and are often spotted parading huge Golden Retrievers, Siberian Huskies and Labradors along leafy streets.
But Beijingers, bound by the rules, more often opt for tiny Chihuahuas or the city's white fluffy namesake, the Pekinese.
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35 centimetres seems like such a random height, but then again I probably shouldn't look for sense where there is none...
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- phillyharper
- 2 months ago
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35 cm is a standard limit for small dog groups in various competitions.
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