Keeping a legal pet dog can be an expensive proposition in Guangzhou; a license to own a dog costs 10,000 yuan and each year a dog owner must pay an additional 6,000 yuan for a medical "check". The government passed these laws in 1997 in hopes of reducing the number of dogs in the city. However, the plan hasn't worked out the way lawmakers had hoped. According to today's New Express, only 842 of the 100,000 dogs in Guangzhou are legal.

Some lawmakers are trying to address this problem; according to the New Express, a draft of a bill to replace the old pet-policy was recently presented to Guangzhou's People's Congress. If the bill is passed, the fee for a dog will drop to 700 yuan for the original license and 300 yuan a year after that. Dogs used as guides for the blind people will be exempt from the fee.