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The city concerned is actually Wenshan in Yunnan province, not Beijing (which is apparently the source of the news). Thank you for drawing attention to this issue, Catherine. I had not read about it before.
This is indeed very, very harsh. How can a dog go so long without any exercise or a place outside to urinate and defecate? Presumably, the poor dogs and their humans will have to walk around their flats fifty times for exercise and use a tray for waste. That will be very hard on them.
In a depressing way, this is almost predictable. The article gives the two most likely reasons for this harsh local law:
1. "Under communist China's founder Mao Zedong, pet ownership was considered a bourgeois affectation....." True, times have changed somewhat, but dogs are still regarded by the older generation as "things" which are either a nuisance or can be used as food. This attitude will, hopefully (perhaps optimistically), die off with time.
2. "Rabies spread by unvaccinated dogs also accounts for a substantial number of the roughly 2,000 deaths from the disease that the World Health Organization counts in China each year." Fear of wild dogs is widespread because of the rabies problem in the country. If China were to invest even a tiny part of its considerable wealth into rabies prevention (mass vaccination), both humans and dogs could benefit.
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11-08-2018, 06:14 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-10-2018, 03:49 PM by Catherine.)
I corrected the location. Thanks for catching that.
This is a bit of a throwback to a harsher time. Hopefully the ban will not spread to other parts of China.
In time the old ideas will die out. For now pet owners must be having a very hard time.
Rabies is so preventable. In the many places in the world where it is still a problem a small investment in vaccines would save lives and millions of health care dollars. Caring for people who are dying from rabies is a bigger economic drain than having a vaccination program.
China would find its people are happier for having dog companions. It would be worth it even if there needed to be a vaccination program to protect people. Dogs give back more than they ever cost us.
Catherine
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11-10-2018, 07:54 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-10-2018, 07:56 AM by Tobi.)
It is needlessly cruel, mean-spirited and ridiculous.
As LPC said -how are people supposed to look after their dogs properly?
Maybe this is meant to impose such restrictions that people who do not have dogs already won't get them.
I can't imagine what would happen to blind people who need guide dogs. They would not be able to go out at all in daylight even to a store for food etc.
It's quite horrible.
People who have gardens surely can take their dogs out on their own property?? Can they? This would make me very angry indeed.