Xi'an boosts dog control measures

Police in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, introduced more stringent measures to control pet dogs, China Daily learned on Tuesday.

Residents who take out their dogs without a leash will be fined 500 yuan ($81.5).

Also, those who do not have licenses for their dogs will be fined 1,000 yuan and their dogs will be seized. Owners of dogs that seriously injure or kill people will be held criminally responsible and their dogs will be put down.

Xi'an first introduced measures to control pet dogs in February 2012, but decided that they needed to be boosted.

Earlier this month a 13-year-old boy was attacked by a dog on the roof of a three-story building in the city's Lintong district and died after falling off it.