Wang Jingli

wangjingli0715@163.com

A GROUP of local residents, families, communities and residential estates across the city were awarded for raising dogs in a civilized manner at a ceremony held at Shenzhen Press Tower in Futian District yesterday.

Ten individuals and families outperformed over 200 contestants to win the Most Civilized Dog Owners/Dog-owning Families title in the selection launched by the city’s urban management and law enforcement bureau this month.

In addition, 10 communities, 10 urban villages and 10 residential estates were awarded for their outstanding performance in pet management.

In a speech at the ceremony, Sun Xuejiao, one of the 10 awarded dog owners who has a Samoyed dog, spoke highly of the convenience to register pet dogs in the city and access to free microchipping for all registered dogs.

Sun said that she will continue to observe rules to use a leash and collect poop while walking her dog, and calls for all dog owners to raise their dogs in a civilized manner.

Shenzhen aims to microchip all registered pet pooches in the city and have residential compounds and urban villages across the city build a management system for civilized dog raising by the end of this year.

Pets without microchips will be considered “unlicensed” and their owners may face penalties. Once implanted, the microchips will be able to locate lost dogs and their owners for around 15 years.

Currently, some 100 pet hospitals in Shenzhen have partnered with the city government to provide free microchipping services, according to media reports.

Data shows that there are currently 220,000 pet dogs in Shenzhen, 96 percent of which have been registered with the authorities, the highest among cities in the country.

The city has reported a decreasing number of uncivilized behavior such as walking dogs without a leash and dog-related disputes, according to the urban management authority.

“Shenzhen welcomes citizens to raise dogs but we also want all owners to observe related rules to raise dogs in a civilized manner,” said Feng Zengjun, deputy director of the city’s urban management and law enforcement bureau.

As of 2019, there were over 55 million pet dogs in China, up 8.2 percent from the previous year, according to an industry report. However, the boom in pet ownership has also led to millions of abandoned animals wandering the streets, corresponding with an uptick in dog-related conflicts and disputes.

Lately, local governments nationwide have begun promoting policies for making dog owners more responsible.