People who abandon(遗弃) dogs or cats in Hubei Province may face fines(罚款) of between 1, 000 yuan and 5, 000 yuan, according to recentlymade rules on animal protection.
According to the rules, governments are responsible for providing care for abandoned pet dogs and cats, as well as the environmentally friendly disposal(处置) of animals that die of illness.
Du Fan, the director of the Small Animal Protection Association(协会) in Wuhan, praised the government for fining pet owners who abandon their pets.
"It shows great progress in animal protection," he said. "In our work, we have often found pet owners abandoning animals, but there were no good ways to deal with that because there were no fit laws. "
Du said the association saved over 700 lost, abandoned and injured dogs and cats last year.
"There were kinds of reasons for abandonment. Owners would move to other places, or their owners simply didn't want to keep them anymore, " he said. "Problems of homeless dogs and cats are never caused by the animals, but by people. "
Du said the policy is meant to make sure pets aren't abandoned, but carrying out the rule may be difficult.
To help deal with that problem, he has suggested the government that digital IDs should be made for pets to help know about the conditions of the animals.
