For 30 years the Chinese have only been allowed one child - and now they are only allowed one dog



For the last 30 years they have been banned from having more than one child in their family.

Now the residents of Shanghai are facing a new limit over the size of their household - the one-dog policy.

Nobody will be allowed to own more than one pooch under the proposals which call for zero tolerance on unplanned pregnancies.

Crowded: Dogs look out of their cages from a truck on a motorway in China. A rising canine population has forced Shanghai authorities to impose a limit to the number of dogs each household may own

Faced with an unexpected litter, the owner will have three months to find homes for the animals or they will be packed off to adoption agencies.

The only alternative will be sterilisation, Shanghai authorities said.

The move is a response to rampant barking, unscooped waste, and the growing risk of dog attacks which officials say is affecting the city’s environment and sanitation.

They also admit there is limited living space for the 20million residents and their 800,000 dogs.

Even though the measure has yet to become law, the response from animal lovers have been defiant.

One wrote on an Internet message board for dog owners: ‘We are prepared to keep our dogs at home. Will they break into my house to take them away? Try it if they dare!’



Another posted: ‘We should unite together to establish a Dog Party to fight for our rights. If anyone’s dog is taken away we should demonstrate.’



Dogs in China are supposed to have a licence which must be paid for, long a bone of contention amongst animal lovers.

To try and persuade owners to accept the one-dog plan, Shanghai authorities are proposing reduce the fee to buy a licence and for vaccinations and identification chips from as much as 2,000 yuan (£200) a year to 300 yuan (£27).

But as with many policies in China, it was not clear how officials would be able to enforce their new policy.

Many Chinese simply do not bother to pay the licence fee for their dogs even though it is technically a crime to do so.

Similar restrictions are already in effect in Beijing, in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou as well as in several other cities.

In Beijing for instance owners are not allowed to keep dogs taller than 14 centimetres lest they attack or frighten non-canine loving residents. The rule is routinely flouted.

The move on dogs lags some time behind a similar rule for humans.

China's one-child policy was officially brought in in 1978 to stop the population exploding out of control.