Shenzhen is widely regarded as one of the most livable cities in China, for humans of course. Now the city is also becoming one of the most livable cities for dogs.
Dog ownership has been surging in Shenzhen in recent years as more and more people become better-off and are in need of an animal to be their companion or help relieve their stress. However, with the population of dogs growing, dog nuisances, dog attacks and human conflicts over dogs have also been on the rise.
Thanks to multiple measures the city has taken since it launched the Muquan Action in 2019, law and order has replaced chaos caused by the lack of regulation on dog keeping, and the wellbeing of the silent friends of humans has been improved.
In November 2020, Shenzhen implemented new rules on pet dog ownership, which require dog owners to leash their pets while going out, collect and dispose of dog poop properly, and vaccinate and register their dogs.
The rules spell out detailed requirement on the length of a leash: no longer than 2 meters for small dogs and no longer than 1.5 meters for medium-size and large dogs. When in an elevator, the owner should pull the dog close to his or her legs and stand between the dog and other people, the rules stipulate. Last year, a vlogger posted a video showing his golden retriever Nuomi going out of his home to fetch a package delivered at the entrance of the housing estate. After the video went viral, the urban administration fined the owner 500 yuan (US$78) for allowing the dog to go out unaccompanied. The penalty greatly raised the public's awareness of the new rules.
To encourage owners to register their dogs, the urban administration designated 328 pet clinics to provide one-stop service for dogs to be registered and implanted with chips, with all the costs paid by the government. So far, 159,000 dogs have been registered and implanted with chips free of charge. It is believed that almost all the dogs in Shenzhen now have been registered, paving the way for better management of dog raising and greatly reducing the cases of abandoned and missing dogs.
Tighter rules also come with more facilities for dogs. In some parts of the city, dog parks have been established to provide a special space for the canines to play around and make friends. Some housing estates have set up "public toilets" for pets, while many have provided dog poop collection boxes – with paper provided – for owners to dispose of their dogs' poop. In Futian District alone, more than 100 housing compounds have set up dog poop collection boxes.
Dog-keeping training also helps owners to know their pets better. The Shenzhen Dog Protection Association holds regular training sessions. "Through the trainings, dog owners better understand the habits of dogs, such as why they bark, and better understanding of dog behavior will reduce the chances of owners abandoning their dogs," Yu Yongbo from the association said.
Stray dogs pose a thorny issue for many cities. To deal with the problem, Shenzhen has set up four dog shelters and launched campaigns to take stray dogs to the shelters, making Shenzhen streets basically free of stray dogs. The city's largest dog shelter, covering 800 square meters in Longgang, can accommodate 8,000 dogs a year.
Shenzhen's urban villages used to be places abounding with stray dogs and banned breeds. A campaign was launched last year to solve dog nuisances and tackle illegal dog raising in urban villages. Each urban village was required to set up a special office, a volunteer team and a supervision team to enforce dog-keeping regulations. In 2021, the urban administration has handled a total of 5,668 cases related to dogs and taken 7,023 stray dogs to shelters.
The authority has also encouraged residents to adopt stray dogs that have been taken to shelters. Since the program started in 2020, more than 1,500 dogs have been adopted after they were given a clean bill of health.
Through meticulous pet dog management, Shenzhen aims to build a pet-friendly city as part of its ambitions to become a global benchmark city in the long term. In fact, compared with many other cities, Shenzhen is already dog-friendly in many ways: easy access to green belts and community parks, ubiquitous pet clinics, and increasing numbers of pet-friendly bars and restaurants, in addition to the vaccination, chip-implantation and registration of all dogs.
In the bid to make the city more friendly to pet dogs, individuals play a crucial part. In addition to abiding by the dog-raising rules and safeguarding the wellbeing of their dogs, owners should also maintain a healthy relationship with family members and neighbors in connection with issues arising out of dog keeping. There are some extreme cases where pet lovers treat dogs better than their family members.
Dog owners should also be aware that not everybody loves dogs and that their dogs may become nuisances even if they have strictly followed the rules. A family member who is obsessed with keeping the house super clean may find pets irritating, and a neighbor may be frustrated by a barking dog. There have been reports that disputes over pets ended a romantic relationship.
Dogs know no intricacy of human relations. It is up to the owners to maintain a harmonious relationship between dogs and humans around.
(The author is a deputy editor-in-chief of Shenzhen Daily.)