This Shouldn't Even Happen to a Dog or, The Latest in Chinese Illiberalism
China's largest city has adapted the nation's grotesque one-child policy to man's best friend. Bloomberg reports on Shanghai's one-dog policy:
Shanghai's population may have reached 23 million people last year as more migrants moved to the city, China Daily reported Feb. 23. Dog ownership has also risen dramatically with incomes in China, which passed the one-child policy in 1979 to limit its human population.
The city's gross domestic product last year grew 9.9 percent to 1.687 trillion yuan. The city now has 600,000 unlicensed dogs, according to a report in the Shanghai Daily. The newspaper added that the government will also impose a 200 yuan fine on dog owners who fail to clean up after their pets.
"As incomes rise, more people want pets," said Shaun Rein, Shanghai-based managing director of China Market Research Group. "It's becoming a serious issue about dogs running around, pooping and causing a mess."
Come May 15, pro-dog hooligans will face fines of up to $152. City officials have also banned breeds deemed likely to attack people: Tibetan mastiffs, Beauceron wolfdogs, and English bulldogs. Of course they banned Tibetan dogs.
Hat tip: Megan McLaughlin.
Jacob Sullum wrote a fantastic essay on China's human-population policies. Read "Thank Deng Xiaoping for Little Girls" now.
Headline allusion at end of this clip: