Dogs and rabies in China

Scott McDonald:

First it was one child. Now authorities say Beijing families will be allowed only one dog.

The restriction is part of efforts to stamp out rabies, state media said Wednesday. It follows a campaign in August in which thousands of dogs were killed in order to fight the disease.

China's capital will institute a "one dog" policy for each household in nine areas, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

"Only one pet dog is allowed per household in the zones, and dangerous and large dogs will be banned. Anyone keeping an unlicensed dog will face prosecution," Xinhua said.

It said rabies killed 318 people nationwide in September.

Rabies is on the rise in China, with 2,651 reported deaths from the disease in 2004, the last year for which data were available.

Only 3 percent of China's dogs are vaccinated against rabies, which attacks the nervous system and can be fatal.

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