After The One Child Policy...

…The One Dog Policy

It's the year of the dog in China (which is by the way my 本命年 ‘‘Ben Ming Nian’’ meaning roughly my year because I was born on the year of the dog which make this year supposedly really special for me… too bad it will all end on February 18^th), so as I was saying this is the year of the dog but it's not a good year for man's best friend: an effort to stamp out rabies has prompted authorities to limit families in Beijing to only one dog.
Xinhua News Agency said Beijing was instituting a "one dog" policy for each household in nine areas: Dongcheng (That’s us!), Xicheng, Chongwen, Xuanwu, Chaoyang, Haidian, Fengtai, Shijingshan and Yizhuang Economic Development Zone.
"Only one pet dog is allowed per household in the zones, and dangerous and large (apparently bigger than 35 cm??!!) dogs will be banned. Anyone keeping an unlicensed dog will face prosecution (5000 yuans, 500 euros and I let you figure out the Dollars!!)," Xinhua said.
Rabies is on the rise in China, where only 3 percent of dogs are vaccinated against the disease, […]Rabies killed 318 people nationwide in September, according to Xinhua. There were 2,651 reported deaths from the disease in 2004, the last year for which data were available, compared with 159 reported fatalities in 1996. In the first three quarters of this year, the country recorded 2,254 rabies cases, an increase of 29.69 percent over the same period last year.
Dog owners also were forbidden from taking their dogs to public places like markets, shops, parks, exhibition halls, community gym zones, amusement parks, railway waiting rooms and sightseeing areas, Xinhua said. (Source AP)

WARNING: This post has nothing to do with the previous one!!!!!