Animals Asia discusses dog management with Beijing Public Security Bureau
On 30 March 2010, Animals Asia Founder and CEO, Jill Robinson; Animal Welfare Director, David Neale; China PR Manager, Rainbow Zhou and China Dr Dog Manager Irene Feng met with the Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB) Dog Management Team Director, Mr. Yu Lixian to discuss ongoing issues regarding the management of dogs in Beijing City.
Irene [Dr Dog Manager, China], Jill and Dave [Animal Welfare Director], with Director of Beijing PSB Dog Management Department Mr.Yu Lixian, Ms Qin Xiaona, (Capital Animal Welfare Association) and members of ACTAsia for Animals.
In recent years, Beijing PSB has come under intense criticism for adopting measures that have led to a large number of dogs being rounded up and taken from their owners. These measures are taken in response to outbreaks of human rabies or to archaic dog-management regulations within Beijing that do not allow dogs higher than 35cm and certain breeds into designated areas. Once these orders have been given, we all too often see many thousands of dogs taken from the streets and slaughtered.
Jill visits a recent arrival at the Beijing PSB dog shelter.
Small dogs are available for adoption through open days, but dogs that don't fit the regulations remain at the centre for years.
Row after row of cages, a mixture of strays and dogs impounded as aggressive or unregistered.
During our meeting, we were pleased to hear of the progressive work of the Beijing Public Security Bureau in recent years with regards the development of humane dog-management initiatives. This includes the development of dog-registration centres that have significantly helped to increase the number of registered dogs in Beijing. The PSB has also embarked upon extensive educational campaigns with regard to responsible dog ownership, this approach has helped to increase the number of vaccinated dogs and the number of dogs that have been neutered and spayed, providing a healthier dog population in Beijing.
The adoption of a community-based approach has seen the establishment of community dog parks to help dog owners and non-dog owners live side by side. In recent years the PSB has also employed community dog specialists to work within the community to resolve disputes between dog owners and non-dog owners as well as provide advice on responsible dog ownership. In 2009, Yu Hongyuan, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau was quoted in the “China Daily” as saying "The government used to be solely responsible for controlling and managing dogs. Now we would like the communities to get involved in dealing with dogs and dog owners.”
Animals Asia congratulates the Beijing PSB dog-management team on the development of humane dog-management initiatives and the extensive level of community involvement. Unfortunately, the PSB still has strict regulations with regard to the size of dogs and the number of dogs that can be raised in certain areas of the city. We will continue to work with the dog-management team to address these issues. In addition, we will support the continued development of educational measures to encourage dog owners to have their dogs desexed, and help to reduce incidences of dog bites, allowing dogs and people to live in harmony.
We have also offered advice and support to improve the Beijing PSB holding and re-homing centre for ownerless dogs. The current shelter fails to meet the basic needs of the dogs and we feel that with continued development the centre can adapt to provide ownerless dogs with a more comfortable environment and the behavioural training they require to become adoptable within the community.
We will continue to work with Beijing PSB to encourage these improvements and further educational initiatives to benefit the dog population of Beijing.
