Thousands of dogs will be culled in a Chongqing district following the death of a resident from rabies last month.
The Wanzhou district government has issued a directive asking residents in the central city area to have their dogs put down before March 15. Exemptions are government department guard dogs, and those kept by research institutions, the military and for commercial purposes.
The government will cull the dogs, whether they are vaccinated or not, if the residents do not do so before the deadline. Owners will be fined between 200 yuan and 1,000 yuan for every dog found after that date.
It is the latest of a series of dog culls carried out by local governments in response to rabies fears. Authorities in Yunnan , Beijing and Guangdong killed tens of thousands of dogs last year despite strong opposition from international animal welfare organisations.
The Wanzhou directive, published on the district government's website, outlines 16 communities and townships suspected of having rabid dogs, including Taibai Street where a resident died after being bitten by an unvaccinated dog last month.
'All the dogs in the area should be killed. A compulsory cull phase will begin after March 16. The forced cull will be carried out by police,' the directive said.
Ran Hua , an official with the district disease control and prevention centre said: 'The move is aimed at protecting people's lives. Wanzhou has not had a reported human case of rabies for the nine years up until last year when three cases were reported. We must do something to prevent the situation from worsening.'