MLW Squared: Bella is legal!

Well, it only took two and a half months, but Bella is now officially registered as a legal resident of the city of Shanghai. The registration process was quite the ordeal because it was conducted completely in Mandarin, and if I would not have had Gu as a translater, I'm sure I would still be trying to figure it out! Basically, you show up at the police station, prove you are a resident (of Hongqaio in this case) and pay 1000 quai, or about $150 (it's 2000 quai if you live inside the inner ring road), and then stand in line as your dog gets photographed, inspected, microchip IDed, and vaccinated (Bella has had three rabies vaccines in the past year... yikes.). The process is complicated by the fact that there were always at least 10-20 other dogs there in various stages of the assembly line. Bella was (of course) very well behaved, and she made her mama proud.

At the end of the process, I was given Bella's vaccination and identification cards, which we are required by law to always have in our possession when Bella is out in public with us. Bella also got a goody (doggie?) bag containing dog dishes, dog treats, a keychain, an umbrella, effervescent tablets, and a few other, increasingly more inane, items. All in all, I was happy because we got through the registration process without event; Bella was happy because she got to ride in a car for the first time since she arrived in Shanghai!