BEIJING,Jan. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- A Chinese official denied Thursday media reports alleging that about 1,000 dogs had been mass killed in Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province.

    Guo Weimin, director of the Information Office under the State Council, told a press conference that some cities have recently stepped up the management and supervision of illegally kept or vagrant dogs.

    Nevertheless, he denied that there had been a mass killing of dogs in the streets, saying the media reports are basically "incorrect".

    According to Guo, dog-raising has caused some social problems in Guangzhou recently. local health department reported that at least two or three people had been bitten and wounded by dogs each day, and this might give rise to rabies, a disease caused by dog bite.

    So local public security, industrial and commercial, public health and urban administrative units jointly launched a one-month drive to enhance the management of raising, selling and abandoning dogs in a bid to reduce the possibility for the occurrence of rabies and the number of stray dogs in streets, the official said. Enditem