Will the real Chinese rural dog please stand up!

Authorities in Siping, Northeast China's Jilin province, are soliciting public opinion on a draft list of prohibited dogs in the city. The decision triggered discussions on social networking sites because the list includes the Chinese rural dog.

It is good to prohibit ferocious dogs from being adopted as pets. For example, a Tibetan mastiff often reaches a shoulder height of 70 to 80 centimeters－raised in a residential building, such a pet can be a nightmare for others.

The same is the case with Akita, a strong and aggressive dog breed from Japan. The German Shepherd is not so aggressive, but it will be difficult to control this muscular dog should it attack someone. Expectedly, many cities forbid citizens from raising these breeds.

However, it is a different story when it comes to the Chinese rural dog, which in the past referred to a certain breed that is raised in the countryside. However, pure-breed Chinese rural dogs are rare to find these days, resulting in many kinds of dogs being clubbed under the same group. They might be of varying shapes and sizes, but they are all called Chinese rural dogs.

That's why the draft list has triggered a controversy－many fear the ban might force them to part with their pets, even though those may not be of the pure and ferocious variety.

It would help if the Siping authorities spell out the characteristics of the banned dog instead of loosely calling it Chinese rural dog. They could, say, prohibit residents from raising pet dogs exceeding 61 centimeters in shoulder height and 30 kilograms in weight.