One Dog Policy Being Considered in Shanghai
Shanghai, the largest metropolitan in China, is considering initiating a one-dog policy that limits every household to just one pooch.
If approved, the new draft dog law would require every dog owner to register their dog for $45, as well as get their dog neutered or spayed. More importantly, owners of multiple pooches would have to give up their extra dogs to either an eligible family, or to an adoption agency. And in case their dog gives birth, they’d have to give up the puppies before they turned 3-years-old.
This unorthodox ruling is being sought because apparently there isn’t enough “dog-walking space” in the extremely dense city, which by the way accommodates 20 million humans and approximately 800,000 canines. Plus there’s a huge problem with inappropriate dog behavior. In 2009 alone, there were over 140,000 instances of dog-related injuries incurred by Shanghai’s human residents.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, though. There’s also incessant barking, not to mention mounds and mounds of unscooped doggy doo-doo. It’s literally a smelly, loud, and dangerous city where walking alone at night might earn you a bite on the you-know-where.
The ruling is definitely encouraging a lot of discourse. Dog owners are complaining that the government is trying to develop ‘draconian measures.’ They believe a more responsible way to deal with this issue would be to better educate the citizens of Shanghai on how to be a better dog owner.
Many are also concerned with what will happen to the puppies.
“If you can’t find any adopters and the shelters are full, where would the puppies go?” one owner asked a China Daily reporter.
Regardless, it looks like China may soon be both a one-child AND one-dog country. As a former irresponsible dog owner who didn’t properly dispose of his pooch’s poop, I believe a better method might just entail issuing hefty fines. Nothing quite encourages a dog owner to get his act together than fine—not to mention a really loud and angry neighbor woman stick of stepping in doggy poop.
By V Saxena on 16-11-2010
V Saxena
