BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Beijing residents are keeping nearly one million pet dogs, reported Monday's Procuratorial Daily, citing the China Small Animal Protection Fund.

    However, experts said that the enormous figures are incongruous with the present level of China's economic development and consumption, the paper said.

    "To keep pets is a luxury and needs certain economic strength, but a number of pet dog owners fail to keep their pets well due to their own living standards," the paper quoted a pet doctor surnamed Li as saying.

    The doctor said that many pet dog owners only give their pets simple feeding and simple cleaning. "That is far from ensuring their pets a good health," Li said.

    Most pet owners say what they fear most is that their pets may get sick, because pet treatments cost higher than for people, according to the paper.

    "You can buy a little pet dog with only 100 or 200 yuan (12.3 to 24.6 Us dollars), but it will cost you 500 to 800 yuan to cremate a dead pet," a dog keeper surnamed Guo in Beijing was quoted as saying.

    Pet dog owners in Beijing spend 500 million yuan (62 million USdollars) on their pets a year, or 500 yuan for each dog on average, the paper said.

    "This level of consumption is very low and can keep a pet healthy," Li said, adding that a sick pet can easily infect humans.

    Li called on pet owners to be more responsible. Meanwhile, the government should draw up policies to regulate pet-keeping.

    "As a responsible pet keeper, one has to buy food and cleaning products exclusively for animal use, give pets regular medical check-ups and inject them with bacterin to prevent diseases," Li said. Enditem