Three strikes and you’re out law – for pets: kill policy on dogs whose owners are caught defying a ban on walking them is withdrawn in China after outcry

Weixin county in Yunnan province announced a ban on dog walking, with punishments rising from a warning to a fine to a death sentence for the offending pet

Officials walked backed the regulation after a backlash. Many Chinese cities have less extreme curbs on pet dog ownership, such as limits on size and breed

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A man walks his dogs in Jiujiang, central China. Officials in a southwestern county have walked backed a ban on dog walking that would have involved killing the pets of repeat offenders. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:15pm, 21 Nov 2020Updated: 8:15pm, 21 Nov 2020

After a rise in conflict between pet owners and those without animals, including incidents where unaccompanied dogs have bitten people, a county in China came up with a solution akin to “three strikes and you’re out” laws in the United States – get caught walking your dog in public three times, and the pooch gets it.

In a notice published last week, according to Chinese media company Sixth Tone, Weixin county in the southwestern province of Yunnan said all dogs were to be kept indoors.

First-time offenders would be subject to warnings if seen outside, while those caught a second time could be fined between 50 and 200 yuan (US$7.60 to US$30.50). If someone was caught walking their dog in public a third time, the pet would be captured and killed – a proposal that has triggered criticism from Chinese internet users.

“When have human beings become so atrocious?” read a comment on Weibo – a Twitter-like microblogging site – that got more than 9,000 likes. “Why are dogs punished for mistakes made by humans?” another person asked.

A man with an Alaskan malamute in Lijiang, Yunnan province. Some people are worried about the growing number of pets that live in the China’s cities. Photo: Getty Images

County officials have since walked backed the proposed regulation after the backlash. Some have said, while they support regulations to ensure pet owners pick up dog poop and keep the animals under control in public, Weixin’s policy needed to be more humane.