Chinese city bans pet owners walking their dogs from 7am to 10pm

This sounds barking mad.

Dog lovers in the Chinese city of Wenshan are no longer allowed to walk their furry friends in daylight hours.

Pet owners are banned from taking their dogs out for a walk between the hours of 7am and 10pm, and they can't take them to parks, shopping centres, sports facilities and other public spaces.

Wenshan residents will have to walk their doggos in the dark

The order has been called the most restrictive yet in a nation where dog ownership has long been subject to tight regulations.

It was forbidden to own a pooch in China until 1993. They were banned due to the thousands of deaths every year caused by rabies.

In addition, Communist China's founder Mao Zedong believed that dogs were a luxury.

There has been a surge in dog ownership in the past 25 years but there are still some restrictions.

In Beijing, large canines are banned in the city centre, while across the country dogs are often required to stay on a lead.

But Wenshan's ban appears to go well beyond that by saying dogs can only be outside before 7am and after 10pm.

Officials have also said leads cannot be longer than 1 metre and dogs can only be walked by adults.

Despite the newfound popularity of keeping dogs, many people remain wary of them due to rabies.

Approximately 2,000 people in China die every year from the disease.