A Beijing man on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the city's municipal public security bureau for refusing to tell him how the money he paid every year to register his dogs was spent, the Beijing News reported yesterday.

Chen Yuhua, a 65-year-old retiree, filed the suit at the Dongcheng district court, which said it would take seven days to decide whether or not to hear the case.

On May 4, Chen, who owns two dogs, asked the Beijing police department to reveal how it used the registration fees he had paid since 2003.

His request was made three days after the introduction of the new government information disclosure regulation.

Chen said that although he pays the bureau an annual fee of 500 yuan ($73) for each of his two dogs, he receives nothing in return, except two 25-yuan vouchers he can redeem against the cost of the animals' yearly vaccinations.

"I wonder where the rest of the money goes. People have a right to know how it's spent," he said.

On May 23, Beijing police told Chen he would receive a formal reply before June 13.

But on June 13, Chen was told he had applied to the wrong office, and should instead contact the city's finance department, to which all pet registration fees were forwarded.

However, Chen said the bureau should answer his question, as it collects the fees.

Huang Zhiming, head of the bureau's dog management office, said all the money collected from pet registration fees was used to pay for the animals' vaccinations, pet care education programs and basic running costs, the Beijing News said.

(China Daily July 18, 2008)