BEIJING, Nov. 13 -- The Public Security Bureau in China's capital has refuted some dog-owners' online statements that criticize the strict implementation of a new "one-dog" policy, calling the comments misleading.

    In the articles published on the internet, dog owners claimed security officers forced them to give up their dogs. They said it was offensive to have their dogs abruptly seized, and claimed that the dogs were being taken away to be slaughtered.

    But the bureau says this is untrue. They explained that the security officers were simply implementing the new regulation, by urging citizens to give up second dogs or aggressive dogs. They revealed that the bureau's special office that is managing the registration of dogs has taken in a total of 500 stray dogs and family dogs that are temporarily detained, by Nov. 13.

    Without effective control, stray dogs have become a social problem: in the first half of this year, 70,000 people in Beijing have reported being bitten or scratched by dogs, and had to get rabies vaccines.

    The bureau adds that the strict implementation of the dog-control measures mainly aims to solve nine prominent problems, including the raising of large or vicious dogs, unlicensed dogs, one household owning more than one dog, and owners bringing their dogs to public places.

    The bureau notes that any dog owners who no longer want to keep their pets may drop them off at their local police station. Meanwhile, citizens eligible to own a dog are invited to adopt such previously-owned dogs, and can call the station for details.

    Last week, the bureau announced a recent bid to fight rabies, by implementing the "one-dog" measure. Rabies claimed 318 lives nationwide in September alone.

    (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)