The consensus among this city's political leadership is clear Guangzhou has a dog problem.

Deputies to the city's people's congress and members of its political consultative conference have raised concerns about the sticky issues surrounding dog-ownership at recent meetings.

In a resolution presented to the people's congress, Lei Jianwei, a deputy who works at Lawsons Law Office, said the city should consider both dropping the large fees dog-owners have to pay to register their pets and lowering their annual management fees. The fees in the city are the country's highest.

"Because the fees are so high, many citizens just ignore the regulation," Lei said.

Ominously, many dog-owners do not have their pets vaccinated against communicable diseases because they are afraid of being fined for not registering the animals, he said.

In addition to scrapping the registration fee, Lei suggested that the annual management fee be cut to no more than 1,000 yuan ($128). Further discounts should be offered to people who rely on dogs for companionship, he said.

Meanwhile, Lin Gaochao, a member of the city's political consultative conference, hit some very similar sounding notes in recent comments.

"There are so many unregistered and unvaccinated dogs in Guangzhou. The dog problem is by no means a trifling matter," Lin said.

Mayor Zhang Guangning said the city government would not control the way people raised their dogs, and that the relevant department would beef up the management efforts.

(China Daily January 31, 2007)