It has been more than two days since a huge dog attacked a 2-year-old girl in Chongzhou city in Southwest China's Sichuan province but she is still undergoing further treatment. Her kidney is so badly injured that doctors are careful not to damage it further during treatment.

The owner of the dog is likely to face criminal charges, just what he deserves for unleashing a fierce dog, a Rottweiler, in public, endangering the lives of others. He should be held accountable not only for what his dog did to the girl but also for the dangers he exposed others to.

We fully understand people's need for a pet dog or cat but we cannot expect cats and dogs to behave rationally. Such pets can attack people suddenly. So it makes sense to limit the size of pets that can be allowed to roam in public, so long as they are on a leash.

People who walk their dogs in public without a leash are definitely violating this basic consensus and should pay a price for it. They are definitely not very good pet owners for sure. By endangering the lives of their fellow citizens, they harm the reputation of pet owners as a whole.

What happened in Chongzhou is an isolated case but it reveals a major problem facing the whole nation, namely the need to properly regulate the increasing number of pet owners so that they and their pets live in harmony with their neighbors. Local laws require dog owners to leash them while walking in public, but it seems this law has not been properly enforced.

The number of pet owners is expected to exceed 87 million in the country. It's time to properly enforce this law.