A Chinese lawmaker has proposed a “dog tax” to help discourage skyrocketing ownership of the pets and pay for faeces clean-up and rabies prevention, state media reported on Monday.
Dog ownership is on the rise in China as urbanites find room in their increasingly comfortable lives for the status symbol of a pet, and legislation is needed to protect the interest of the rest of society, said Jiang Deming, a deputy at the National People’s Congress (NPC), Xinhua news agency reported.
The revenue raised can help cities clean up the ever-present dog waste that litters the sidewalks of cities such as the capital, Beijing, said Jiang, a representative from the eastern province of Jiangsu, during a session of the NPC, China’s Parliament.
He added that dangerous or large dogs should be banned in urban areas.
Such proposals rarely become laws at the NPC, but China has been getting increasingly tough on the proliferation of dogs, with more than 2Â 000 people dying of rabies across the country in 2006.
Late last year, Beijing authorities decreed that each household could have only one dog and that dogs taller than 35cm were banned.
However, a public backlash led by dog owners caused authorities to ease off enforcing the rules, according to media reports. — AFP