A protester at a rally against China’s one-dog policy in Beijing on Saturday. (Reuters)

Beijing, Nov. 11 (Reuters): At least 200 protesters lined a chilly Beijing street today to denounce a government crackdown on pet dogs that has the city’s usually passive citizens crying murder.

“Arbitrary slaughter is disgraceful,” read one sign held up by the demonstrators who gathered in front of the city zoo.

“Legislate to protect our pets,” they yelled.

The protesters, many holding up toy fluffy dogs, were decrying government moves to restrict the number of pooches by enforcing a 35- cm height limit on dogs and confiscating and culling oversized ones, said one of the organisers, who asked to be known only by her surname, Wu.

For her and others the struggle against the pooch purge has become a struggle in miniature against arbitrary power and Chinese people's powerlessness before faceless officialdom.

“Raising a dog is a right, not a privilege,” said Wu, who furtively keeps five dogs and runs a pet store. “But now our rights are under attack and we can only take out our dogs in the dead of night.”

She said 18 protesters were detained and released only after organisers agreed to disperse the rally.

Protests are rare in the national capital, and Wu said the organisers did not obtain official approval. Beijing authorities have been vigilant against any assemblies since 1989 when pro-democracy demonstrations ended in a bloody army crackdown.

A few years ago, officials relaxed rules on dog ownership but demanded that each household keep at most one dog and pay 500 yuan ($62.5) a year for the privilege, after an initial fee of 1,000 yuan ($120).