Beijing (AsiaNews/agencies) – No less than 50,000 dogs were put down by government order after the death of three people from rabies.

In Mouding county in the south-west province of Yunnan, the massacre lasted five days and only military guard dogs and police canine units were spared.

Dogs being walked were taken from their owners and killed there and then. Other teams charged with slaughtering the dogs entered villages at night creating noise to get them barking. Then they went and caught them. Even 4,000 dogs immunized against the sickness were put to death in case the immunizations were not effective. Compensation of 60 US cents was paid for each dog.

About 360 of the county's 200,000 residents were bitten by dogs this year, with three reported deaths, including a four-year-old girl.

The Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said that in recent years China has seen a major rise in the number of rabies cases, with 2,651 reported deaths in 2004. Experts say the increase is due to a major increase in dog ownership, particularly in rural areas where about 70% of households keep dogs. But it is also due to a very low rate of rabies vaccination that is only about 3%.