Get your dog a licence, leash it, and off you go

The recent viral video of a two-year-old kid being attacked by a Rottweiler in southwestern Sichuan Province has stirred debate on Chinese social media about how to manage dog owners and deal with stray dogs.

Both sides have used video evidence to back up their claims, with arguments claiming to be dog culling and loose dogs assaulting youngsters or the elderly flooding Chinese social media. The majority of the videos are unverified, do not offer the information indicated in the title, or have been demonstrated to be old.

The infant girl suffered a major tear in her right kidney. According to Chongzhou police, the dog was captured, and the owner, surnamed Tang, was detained.

The girl's parents are preparing a lawsuit against Tang and the compound administration.

"The owner, fully aware that his pet is aggressive and very dangerous, neglected his responsibility of guardianship, which led to this tragedy," Zhou Zhaocheng, the lawyer of the girl's parents, said on his Weibo account.

The brutal attack sparked cross-country sympathy for the girl and discussions about pet owners' responsibility.

Some Chinese cities issued statements encouraging civilized pet ownership and the launch of a program aimed at capturing loose and stray dogs.

The statements urged pet owners to obtain dog licenses as soon as possible, keep their dogs leashed when not at home, and not abandon their pets. Many stray animals are the result of commercial reproduction or abandonment. Some statements claimed that the captured canines would be put up for adoption.

Shanghai's public security authorities revealed to Shanghai Daily that they received reports from homeowners about dangerous strays in their complexes, in which case police would be dispatched since the strays could endanger the elderly or young children.

Local governments in China are primarily responsible for enforcing pet laws, but just like in many other nations, a dog license is necessary. Certain breeds are banned, especially in populated urban areas. The Rottweiler, for example, is banned in Shanghai. Also, immunization is essential.

For step-by-step dog registration and banned breeds in Shanghai, please check here.

Some perceived the statements as killing all loose dogs, which is groundless.

Netizens shared videos or tales of purported killings in their community.

One confirmed report says a guard at a college in Chongqing, southwest China, was suspended after his attempts to drive away a stray dog while protecting a student led to the animal's death.

Others argue that stray and off-leash dogs should be more strictly regulated. They shared videos and tales of previous incidents with off-leash or stray dogs attacking humans, including children and the elderly.

Some people dug out old US embassy posts on Weibo explaining that 1.2 million stray dogs and 1.4 million stray cats are euthanized each year, even though many American families adopt stray animals from rescue sites.

Credit: Ti Gong

"I don't understand why the two sides are fighting so hard online," Jessica Liu, a Shanghai pet owner, told Shanghai Daily.

"It appears to me that they are saying the same thing – be nice to both humans and dogs," she said. "Be a responsible pet owner by getting a licence and training your dog. Don't kill stray dogs as an overreaction to the tragedy of the baby girl, although some strays are dangerous."

Liu, a dog lover, regularly attends the city's many adoption events and helps to post pets for adoption. However, she also called a dog-capture agency when she discovered an aggressive stray dog in her area. The dog was captured and taken to a rescue facility before being adopted.

For adopting dogs and cats in Shanghai, here is a guide.

If you're looking for rescue and adoption communities in Shanghai, here are some options.