Dog owners in Xuzhou can now register their animals online via a mobile phone app.
Xuzhou, located in Jiangsu province, is the latest city in China to introduce a convenient QR code pet license system. Under the new system, police can access license information via an app by scanning a QR code. The systems allows authorities to penalize owners who break city pet laws.
The license is easy to obtain.
Dog owners can register their pets online via a straightforward process. The dog owner simply uploads their documents to the app, pays the required fee, and then police issue a QR code pet license. Essentially, the quick response code is attached to the tag, which is meant to be added to the dog’s collar.
In the event a police officer should come across a dog off its leash on the streets, they can open their phone app, scan the dog’s QR code and gain instant details regarding registration and any previous problems that may have been reported. The dog’s owner can be penalized by losing points, being fined and, in some cases, even having their dog rehomed.
The QR code pet license system has been created to reduce problems resulting from irresponsible dog ownership.
The number of dog owners in China is increasing every year, with an estimated 50 million registered dogs in the country. Pet ownership in the country is growing at 15% per year, according to the China Pet Products Association, reported South China Morning Post.
Moreover, police have reported that the growing number of dog owners has led to a rise in complaints from the public. These complaint include dogs being off leashes, dogs barking and dogs biting people. However, this QR code licensing system, which was first introduced in the city of Jinan at the start of 2017, appears to be reducing this problem.
The pet license functions as a demerit point system. For their first offence, a dog owner loses 3 points from their license and is warned. The second time, the owner will lose 6 points and is fined anywhere from 200 yuan ($29) to 500 yuan ($73). If the owner should break the law a third time, he or she will receive a 12-point deduction and their dog will be confiscated. The dog will be retuned only once the owner has passed a test on the city’s pet ownership policy. Failure to pass the test will result in the dog being rehomed.
Since Jinan introduced the QR code pet license system, over 1,400 dog owners have been penalized. Among them, 122 reportedly had to take the test and 12 of these owners failed the test, resulting in their dogs being rehomed.
