The Peking city government yesterday announced new regulations forbidding foreign dog-owners from taking their dogs for walks on the street.

The announcement was the latest measure in the city’s efforts to get rid of its dog population, which the authorities see as a hygeine menace.

“foreigners in Peking must keep their dogs in doghouses or on the compound of their residence. to walk dogs in the street is forbidden,” the regulation states.

The notice, distributed yesterday but promulgated on October 31, also provides for annual vaccination and tagging of dogs owned by foreigners resident in the Chinese capital.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” stormed one American dog-owner who takes her dog for a walk around the embassy district of Peking every evening.

“there’s nowhere to walk the dog in our compound, so I’ll just have to take him out anyway. They’ll have to kill me if they want to stop me.”

she estimated that perhaps about 50 people in the Peking foreign community kept dogs, all of which are already quarantined and vaccinated for rabies when they are brought into the country.

all Chinese dog-owners in the city have been told to get rid of their dogs, otherwise the authorities will kill the animals for them.

according to new regulations which came into effect on December 1, all dogs in the municipality must be registered, and permission to keep a dog will only be granted in special cases.

rabies is endemic throughout much of China, and with housing conditions so cramped and hygeine standards so low, the ban is a sensible measure.

In fact, there appear to be very few dogs kept as pets in the city proper, although the animals are quite common in the surrounding suburban rural areas.