People familiar with the market for pet dogs in China
are urging the government to raise taxes on dog breeders to eliminate rampant
profiteering in this largely unregulated sector, according to a Xinhua News
Agency report.
In the latest example of the soaring profits to be made in the country's pet-dog market, Beijia Pet Shop in
Shanghai sold a three-month-old Chow Chow last week for 550,000 yuan
(US$70,513).
"I have sold 11 pet dogs for 7.1 million yuan
(US$910,256) in the past two months," said the shop owner.
Dog-ownership has been on many people's minds in the
capital recently as authorities have sought to combat the spread of rabies. The
campaign has apparently not dissuaded many pet lovers from splashing out on what
they think are expensive dog breeds.
Yang Zhenshan, manager of the Aisida Famous Pet Dog
Market, Beijing's largest pet dog market, told Xinhua News Agency that because
many people cannot tell the difference between a leading breed and a mongrel,
dogs worth less than 1,000 yuan (US$128) regularly sell for twice that amount.
One of the most costly dog breeds being sold in
Beijing at the moment is the Tibetan mastiff. This native of Northwest China's
Qinghai Province sells for about 1,000 yuan (US$128) in its home province. This
same breed generally fetches anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 yuan (US$3,846 to
6,410) in Beijing, with some particularly well-formed Tibetan mastiffs going for
as much as 1 million yuan (US$128,205).
Yang said many new people had been lured into the
dog-breeding market after hearing about the huge profits to be made.
Beijing has more than 300 large pet dog breeding
farms.
"A large farm refers to one that can breed more than
50 pet dogs," Yang said. "But only around 10 per cent of the farms are
licensed."
Hong Dayong, a professor at Renmin University of
China, was quoted as saying that the government should impose higher taxes on
the sale of dogs to end the profiteering.