Gender: Female
City: France and
State: Sjælland
Country: DK
Signup Date: 5/26/2007
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
|
Please .. Call for help from Animals Asia Foundation| PAWS survives typhoon – now desperate for help in rescue effort |
Battered by Typhoon Ketsana, which struck on September 26, the Philippine capital Manila has suffered massive flooding, resulting in over 200 deaths and the displacement of thousands of people and their animals.
The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), which rescues and re-homes animals in the greater Manila area, and runs a hugely successful Dr Dog programme on behalf of Animals Asia, is urgently in need of your help as members race to help families and pets, while struggling to overcome their own difficulties.
After two days trapped inside without food, two PAWS directors and 60 rescued animals under their care have finally made it to safety. Heidi Guzon and Gwen Protasio were trapped on the second floor of Heidi’s house while their colleagues raced against time to organise a rescue.
In the meantime, the head of PAWS Disaster Relief Team, May Felix, lost one of her own precious dogs to the waters when her house was hit by flash flooding.
Fortunately, the PAWS rescue shelter has not been damaged, though it is operating without electricity. To offer shelter to others, PAWS announced on national TV and newspapers that its doors were open as an evacuation centre for animals that have been rescued.
Unfortunately, access to the flooded areas is limited with people unable to get in or out – so there has been only a slow trickle of rescued animals over the weekend. However, as the PAWS shelter is very near the disaster area of Marikina where thousands are still stranded in their homes with their animals, tents and cages are needed urgently for the new arrivals expected once rescuers arrive. They also urgently need cat and dog food and batteries.
Despite their own problems, PAWS is doing all it can to help animals and people: PAWS Programme Director, Anna Nieves Cabrera, said in an email to Animals Asia: “The PAWS Shelter has no electricity and no phone. I am only able to email you from an internet cafe. In hindsight, we really need a radio for the shelter. If there is a way any organisation can send in a rubber boat and some life vests (I know this is close to impossible though), our volunteers, who have recently been trained for water rescues in Indonesia, may be able to rescue some animals.”
Since this email was received we have heard that more animals are arriving at the PAWS shelter as the flood levels subside and PAWS staff are now entering communities to offer help and assistance to people and animals that have been forced to evacuate.
The situation for the people and the animals in the flooded areas is very poor. You can help the dedicated people at PAWS help these families and pets by donating towards their disaster relief efforts through the PAWS website. Please click “Featured News” for secure online payment details and for more information and updated announcements.
|
Powered by  | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
|
Reuters Video ".. A new Animal Rights Law" commented by a reporter from Beijing, to be viewed HERE
News Xinhuatnet 22 September 2009
In a recent international academic conference, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Chang Ji legal experts issued a "The People's Republic of China Animal Protection Law" draft expert advice to improve at home and abroad to seek the views of the public.
Animal rights community to protect the voice, but also public opinion, affirmed the right to legislate. Right to adequate protection of animal rights can be said that the forces of history, is a sign of progress toward a civilized society. Animals have a certain intellectual and cognitive abilities, but also have their own emotions and feelings, these "animal" should be respected by humans. Human beings can and should "benefit the people", to a certain extent, the social ethic extended to the relationship between humans and animals, the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Legislation to protect animals, that is a clear entitlement to the rights of animals, and be implemented through national mandatory.
Legislation to protect animal rights, began in Europe, but it is a very effective animal protection more recent matter. 1822, Ireland through "Act against abuse of domestic animals", which is the world's first one with the animal welfare-related laws. It was not until the last century, 80 years, developed countries, only a comprehensive legislation to protect animal rights, animal "living dead line of food," With the bottom-line constraints. Moreover, early animal protection legislation, mainly to stop cruelty to animals, but also very difficult to imagine that a properly implemented.
Animals were given the right to have their necessary historical conditions: first, the rise of the middle class, some animals from the draft into pets, people and animals, the emotional ties strengthened; followed by the development of material and technical conditions so that human rights have a certain degree of protection , and then before they can benefit animals; third is to protect animal rights and social consensus, there is no social consensus to protect animal rights, the law will not be universally respected. Do not have these economic and social conditions, even if the legislation ultimately on paper.
Choose a draft legislative proposals released the international arena reflects the legal experts of the "international outlook", but an international vision of legal experts may forget, China has its own national conditions. China has 800 million farmers, while farmers and animal relationships are very complex, both human compassion to animals, it was also instrumental in animals, the use of material. In the cities, people just awakening of awareness of their rights, people's awareness of animal rights is still indifferent nature.
Protection of animal rights, need for values, the legal system as a prerequisite, but the real basis or economic development level. Developed countries, the protection of animal rights and welfare, is the protection of human rights, the welfare state becomes a reality, the people's rights and welfare of the animal world's natural "overflow." China has just solve the people's food and clothing, people's employment, housing, health, travel and even the beleaguered funeral, we must also recognize and protect the rights and welfare of animals is indeed unrealistic.
The so-called laws, not human inventions, it should already exist in the social customs, habits, moral, the legislation was the law, "discovery." If the urban and rural residents to love the animals, in the last resort must be in accordance with customary to dispose of animals, though legal experts to come up with a prohibited by law to do so, then many people will be going to turn into a legal sinners. Such legislation is clearly not the discovery of the law, but an expert arbitrary will of the system be applied mechanically to the West.
This is not to say that China should not be legislation to protect animals, but said that China between urban and rural areas, career development is very uneven between, in the next longer period of time, have not issued the Code-type animal protection law, demanded too much on people's excessive. Can be for animal experiments, industrial slaughter, zoos and performing arts industries, introduced an industry first animal protection norms, conditions that can be special legislation. Cities can improve the domestic dog law and regulations can be expanded to protect the pet kennel regulations. But all of these laws must be operable. (Yang Yu-ze)
Powered by | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|
Sunday, September 13, 2009
|
We receive daily reports from our friends activists in China about dog sculls. Despite of the good news about Nanjing police, Animals Asia Foundation's report as well as other updates show the tremendous work the AR activist still have to carry out, with the help and backup of worlwide activists and AR organizations.
Chifeng city dog slaughter - August 2009
The online news agency Cina.com published evidences of the slaughter HERE (warning : disturbing graphics)
 Animals Asia has received information from contacts in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia that the Hongshan district police office has instigated a policy of indiscriminate dog slaughter. The authorities in Chifeng City issued dog-management regulations to the people of the city back in 2003.
The authorities claim that in recent years, the behaviour of dogs and their guardians has become out of control. Therefore in August 2009, the police issued an official announcement forbidding dogs and dog guardians from:
1. Raising large dogs and dangerous dogs in the downtown area of Chifeng City.
2. Entering markets, shops, restaurants, parks, public greenbelt, schools, hospitals, movie theaters, gymnasiums, pleasure grounds, bus stations, airports, streets, resident communities, and other public areas.
3. Walking dogs on the street and footpath.
4. Entering public vehicles and elevators.
If anyone gets out of line, the police will kill all such dogs….
Animals Asia is saddened and appalled by these actions being carried out by the Chifeng authorities and the development of archaic rules to regulate dog-guardianship in the city and control street-dog populations.
Animals Asia, in partnership with Chinese animal-welfare groups as part of the “Friends of Animals Asia Alliance” has written to the Chifeng authorities calling for an immediate end to this mass slaughter, and asking the authorities to consider a “grandfather” approach allowing people to keep the dogs they have and, once they have died naturally, instructing owners not to replace them with other dogs. This will at least allow owners to keep their beloved family members. Our coalition letter is below.
To read a report on dog-population management in China and how Animals Asia strives to prevent more culls, please click here.
What you can do
You can help support our efforts to battle this atrocity. Please write a polite letter to the Chinese Ambassador and send it to the main embassy address in your country. Embassy addresses can be found here:
www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/embassy_list.htm Explain, politely but firmly, that the policy is cruel, heartless and ineffective, and paints the people and government of Chifeng in a very poor light.
Urge the Chinese authorities to persuade the Chifeng City government to abandon this carnage in favour of a humane trap-neuter-release and vaccination programme, as recommended by the WHO, and animal-welfare organisations worldwide. Please urge the authorities in Beijing to allow dog owners to keep the dogs they already have and allow them to live out their natural lives.
Qinghuangdao City - September 2009
Proposed enforcement of strict regulations means death for China’s pets
Animals Asia has received information from contacts in Qinghuangdao City, Hebei province that from 10 September onwards the police will confiscate and kill pet dogs that do not meet the city’s regulations.
The dog-raising regulations in Qinghuangdao City forbid a list of breeds classed as dangerous dogs and dogs taller than 35cm from being kept. Also, the regulations allow only dogs smaller than 35cm to go out in public from 9pm to 6am every day, therefore forbidding all dogs to be out in public during the daytime hours (6am and 9pm).
The authorities have instructed owners of dogs that do not meet their regulations to “deal” with the dogs themselves or the police will confiscate and kill them. The authorities are also instructing dog-owners to pay a fee of around RMB200 (US$30) for slaughtering their own pets.
Animals Asia is saddened and appalled by these actions being carried out by the Qinghuangdao authorities and the enforcement of archaic rules to regulate dog-guardianship in the city.
Animals Asia – in partnership with Chinese animal-welfare groups that have joined our “Friends of Animals Asia Alliance” – has both written to and called the Qinghuangdao authorities calling for an immediate end to this slaughter, and asking the authorities to consider a “grandfather” approach, allowing people to keep the dogs they have and, once they have died naturally, instructing owners not to replace them with other dogs.
This will at least allow owners to keep their beloved family members. We have also provided recommendations to the authorities on the implementation of humane dog-management regulations.
At the moment the authorities are not prepared to halt their course of action and we have asked local welfare groups based in Hebei to monitor the situation and report back to us if they hear or see any dog confiscations taking place.
Congratulations to Nanjing Police on humane handling of dogs
Animals Asia has learned that on 8 August 2009 the Nanjing Police department was involved in the handling of an incident involving two Tibetan mastiffs who had escaped from their guardian's yard.
The Tibetan mastiffs had bitten two people in a Nanjing residential community. The police were alerted and some 50 officers and four police dogs searched the community for the dogs. On finding the dogs, they were captured and housed at a local shelter.
In Nanjing, dog-management regulations forbid residents from raising large-breed dogs, such as Tibetan mastiffs. All too often in many Chinese cities, we see the authorities reacting to incidences of dog bites and unregistered dogs by slaughtering the dogs on the city streets. In this case the Nanjing police handled the situation humanely and with compassion for the dogs concerned. Animals Asia has thanked the Nanjing police department for adopting this approach.
The person at fault for these dog bites is ultimately the dog’s guardian. Caring responsibly for large-breed dogs in cities means co-existing with other residents. If dogs with the potential to bite members of the public are allowed to escape from their owners homes and bite residents, city police departments will take action. Fortunately, the Nanjing Police used compassion. The guardian was fined and instructed to cover the medical costs of the two people wounded by the dogs.
This action follows the positive approach taken by the Nanjing police department to the management of stray dogs in 2006. Following a meeting with Jill Robinson MBE, our China Relations Director Christie Yang, and Ms Ha Wenjin of the Nanjing Ping An A Fu Animal Protection Group, Nanjing police decided to adopt a policy of capturing stray dogs and placing them in a local animal shelter, instead of organising a city-wide dog cull.
This was at a time when street dogs in both Yunnan and Shandong provinces were being brutally slaughtered. Not only did the Nanjing police show compassion towards the dogs by placing them at a shelter, they also provided funds to the Nanjing Ping An shelter to care for the dogs. See here for more.
This previous action coupled with the news of the treatment of the two mastiffs shows the continued compassion and importance the Nanjing police department place on the welfare of companion animals. We congratulate the Nanjing authorities on their approach and will use this example to encourage other Chinese cities to adopt similar compassion when managing dog populations. A copy of our thank-you letter to the police department can be seen below:
| Mr. Xu Zhubao, Director General
Nanjing Public Security Bureau
No.1, Hong Gong Ci,
Baixia Roa
Nanjing
China
August 2009 Dear Mr Xu
On behalf of Animals Asia Foundation, the Animals Asia Friendship Alliance and our supporters across the world, I am writing to thank you and your officers for your humane handling and treatment of two Tibetan mastiffs following the dog-bite incident in the Nanjing residential community on 8 August.
Animals Asia has learned that the Security Patrol branch and Shi Fo Temple Lost Dog Shelter under your leadership were involved in the handling of these unregistered dogs, which are prohibited in Nanjing city. The branch and shelter officers handled the case humanely by taking into consideration the rights of the citizens and the welfare of the animals. Your actions have been positively recognised by the citizens of Nanjing and local animal-protection groups.
Nanjing Ping An A Fu Animal Protection Group has notified animal-welfare groups across China of your positive actions. Moreover, news of your decision to treat the dogs humanely has spread across the globe and has reached international animal-protection organizations, such as ourselves, and we have passed this news onto our international supporters.
I am pleased to see Nanjing continuing to lead the way with humane dog-population management. Your police authority officials kindly met with our China Relations Director, Christie Yang and I in 2006 to discuss humane measures to control dog populations. This was at a time when dogs in both Yunnan and Shandong provinces were being brutally slaughtered.
We thank your authority for rejecting a cruel reactionary stance to this problem, which would have lead to dogs being killed, and for adopting the humane solution of placing stray dogs into the care of the Nanjing Ping An A Fu Animal Protection Group. We would also like to thank you once again for providing the shelter with funds to feed and care for the dogs. This previous action coupled with the news of the treatment of the two mastiffs shows the continued compassion and importance you place on the welfare of companion animals in Nanjing.
Animals Asia Foundation is devoted to animal protection across Asia, we appreciate the growing trend and recognition of animal welfare in China, particularly with the addition of this most recent case of humane handling.
China has a long tradition of compassion for the weak, disadvantaged and the needy. Your humane animal-management method is a testimony to this great tradition of compassion for non-human individuals. We at Animals Asia congratulate you for the progress you continue to make.
Yours sincerely,
Jill Robinson MBE
Founder & CEO
Animals Asia Foundation
Tel: +852 2791 2225
Fax: +852 2791 2320
Web: www.animalsasia.org
NB. Animals Asia Friendship Alliance is a network of animal-welfare groups across China working for the protection of companion animals.
|
Powered by | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
|
Some updates on China 's Animal Rights, from Stella Zhou, a Brighter Green Associate, she is a recent graduate of Beijing's Foreign Studies University who's now studying for a master of public health degree at Harvard University. Animal Welfare on the Legal Docket
China has drafted its first Animal Protection Law. At present, Chinese animal law covers wildlife only. A team of experts headed by Chang Jiwen, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Social Law Research Department, is looking to change this. On June 15, 2009, state media reported that the team finished drafting China’s first Animal Protection Law. According to the draft, severe cases of animal abuse, such as the hauling of cats from all over China to Guangdong Province for a Cantonese delicacy of shui zhu huo mao or water-boiled live cats, can result in the jailing of violators. Lighter punishments include fines of up to 6,000 yuan ($877.50) and detention periods of 15 days or less. The draft also proposes implanting data chips in pets as a means of controlling stray populations, and improving farm animal welfare through the adoption of humane breeding, transportation, and slaughter practices. In August, the draft law will be published to solicit public opinion and will be submitted to various government departments by year-end. Repeated accounts of animal abuse reported by the Chinese media have spurred on the legal drafting team’s work. In 2002 for example, a student from Tsinghua University poured sulphuric acid into the mouths of Beijing zoo’s black bears. In 2005, a graduate student from Fudan University abused 30 stray cats, gouging out their eyes, and eventually killing them. More recently, in 2006, a group of teenage girls in high heels trampled a number of cats to death, supposedly for fun. An Internet uproar ensued and the events sparked off heated ethical debates. While China’s animal lovers responded eagerly to news of the draft law, critical voices were also heard. “We’re unable even to take care of the numerous poor, let alone animals. Let’s talk about human rights first!” was a common public response. Some went further, accusing the scholars and activists of blindly emulating the West and pointing out the hypocrisy of “animal welfare,” as the animals are ultimately killed regardless of how humane the slaughter. In an interview with CCTV, Professor Chang, head of the drafting team, responded to such criticisms. He stressed that the team sought to craft the law in accord with the actual conditions for animals in China, with anti-abuse (that is, punishing the infliction of unnecessary pain on nonhuman animals) forming the basis of the law. Professor Chang admitted that it while it is currently unrealistic for China to mirror Western standards of animal welfare, he detailed step-by-step measures to improve Chinese animal welfare that can be implemented within the next two decades. A final version of the draft law will have to go through the State Council, China's highest executive organ, and undergo three readings at the National People’s Congress (China's national legislature) before taking effect. Every change in life presents its own set of challenges. Such difficulties are inevitable, but are never reason enough to avoid action. This draft presents the Chinese people with a plan detailing not only better animal treatment, but also reforms to industrial animal agriculture systems and rural labor. The "humane" path will encounter roadblocks in China, but it is an important route to the future.
Chinese Animal Activists say “NO” to China's Film Industry
Just a month after the draft version of China’s first animal protection law was completed, animal activists in China are pushing the movement forward, attempting to end animal abuse in the Chinese film industry. Recently, the shooting of the new version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms (adapted from one of the four major classical novels of Chinese literature) hit the nerve of China’s animal activists. In a July interview with Beijing News, director Gao Xixi, spoke of efforts to impress the audience with “splendor”. “I have absolute confidence in the battle scenes that feature the TV series…We specially import horses from New Zealand. Horses bred in China look like donkeys, not strong enough. Six horses died and eight went crazy during the shooting. You can imagine the scene!” Mang Ping, associate professor of the Central Institute of Socialism and a pioneer of China’s animal protection movement, first voiced her concern in an op-ed published in the August 2 issue of the Beijing News. “Our film production is not lacking in luxurious scenes but the basic ethical principles.” She says, concerned that such “ill” tastes might produce negative impact on the audience, especially children. Professor Mang’s comment was echoed by Don’t Eat Friends (the most active and influential animal protection group in China headed by Giant Beanstalk, a rock band made up of vegan members). “It’s not art, but a stain on art.” says Xie Zheng, leader of the group and head of the musical band who obviously has a different view of artistic creation. Nonhuman animals who are sentient beings just like humankind deserve respect and compassion. While the random use of animals to revive a historical scene is unnecessary (it can be fulfilled with computer graphics), it implies men’s intrinsic sense of superiority over animals. For every country striving for humaneness, such events carry hope because awareness induces change. Hopefully, it will lead China towards closer media censorship that incorporates non-animal cruelty.
Powered by | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|
Friday, August 14, 2009
|
With felines a special dish for the southern palate, activists aim to make pets of them by Bill Schiller
FOSHAN, China–It's a sunny, sweltering morning at the Gui Jiang Three Birds Wholesale Market, and the air is filled with the anxious, high-pitched screams of cats. For these fated felines, the end is nigh.
This market is their last way station on the road to someone's dinner plate. Every day here, hundreds of cats are on sale known as Canton), supplying meat for the Cantonese appetite for cat.
Some are strays, some allegedly stolen from their pet owners – but most are common alley cats. Thousands are shipped by truck and train to southern China from other parts of the country.
All have one thing in common: they're about to enter the food chain. Buyers arrive here early to haggle and hover over the selection process as they would for any commodity.
There's more at this market, too: dog, donkey, foxes, peacock and an array of exotica to sate the legendary Cantonese taste for the wild.
Shortly before 8 a.m. on a recent weekday morning a no-nonsense woman from the local food industry pulled up in a truck with one of her staff, determined to get quality for money.
When a vendor reached into a metal cage with his iron vice-grips and seized one cat by the throat, she waved him off: "Not that one, it's too lean." The vendor released his grip and let the cat drop.
Another was chosen and promptly wrenched from the cage, swooped through the air and – with the handler using one hand to grip it firmly by the tail – stuffed through a tiny hole into a fine-wired carton already crowded with cats.
Each cat had tried to make one last lunge to break free as it was being yanked from the cage – but to no avail. Every day here at Gui Jiang, the merchandise is weighed, the money exchanged and the deals done.
But some Chinese hope the days of this trade are numbered. As China continues to develop and build a solid middle-class, there is a growing awareness of – and fondness for – house pets. And with that has come a growing movement to put an end to cat eating.
In some cities that movement has exhibited daring. In cities like Shanghai and Nanjing, for example, animal rights advocates have launched raids on cat dealers and their suppliers, swooping down on cat collection centres as well as delivery points, even train stations.
Armed with screwdrivers and hammers they've pried open bamboo crates of cats, liberating some, finding homes for others and even delivering veterinary care. "We don't support such radical means," assures Wu Qingrong, a 37-year-old IT specialist who is part of a loosely knit group of animal advocates in Guangzhou known as The Xixi Forest. They are using education, instead, to try to persuade people to end cat consumption. "We want to change people's minds peacefully," she says over lunch, "especially the older generations."
She and other volunteers visit elementary schools, apartment blocks and subway stations handing out literature that promotes seeing animals as friends – not food. "Our goal is to teach people how to live harmoniously with animals," she says. Because there is no law in China prohibiting the trade of cats for human consumption, education remains the best way to tackle the issue, she says. "We don't believe that demonstrating in front of restaurants, for example, will solve the problem," she adds. Nor would it likely succeed.
After all, the clientele that comes to Jia Hua Restaurant, a glitzy, animated establishment on Guangzhou's Baogang Ave., come because it serves cat, crocodile, fox and other rare dishes, often listed on its "Mountain Treasures" menu. An old expression here in the province of Guangdong holds that any animal "whose back faces the heavens" is fair game for eating Elsewhere, people jokingly say the people of Guangdong will eat, "anything on four legs except a table."
One evening last week, however, a waitress at Jia Hua explained that cat wasn't on the menu, and wouldn't be for months. "We don't serve it in summer time," she explained. "It's really a winter dish." The neighbourhood knows: in winter months the restaurant displays its live cats in cages on the street, in full view of passersby.
But cat is easily available in central Guangzhou along Wenming Rd.
There, "Dragon, Tiger and Phoenix Stew" a mix of snake, cat and fowl, sells for just 13 Chinese yuan for a small bowl, about $2.15. And a dish called "Old Cat Soup" is priced at just 8 yuan – about $1.30. But there have also been published reports of "Braised Cat" fetching as much a 148 yuan (more than $24) at restaurants in nearby Dongguan.
China's Chengdu Business Daily estimated recently that as many as 10,000 cats are consumed throughout Guangdong everyday. But most say there is really no way to tell: state media have said there is no government health inspection of cats for human consumption. And no definitive survey of cat consumption has ever been done.
Late last year, however, Guangzhou's Southern Metropolis Daily reported that in Nanjing, cat catchers – referred to locally to locally as "cat fishermen" – were earning at least 10 yuan per cat from wholesalers and capturing as many as 20 cats per day.
On Friday at the Gui Jiang Three Birds market, customers were paying up to 16 yuan per kilogram (about $2.65) for what they considered to be top quality cat.
By that estimation a 4-kilogram cat could retail for 64 yuan, the equivalent of $10.50. Flora Feng, who runs an online pet supplies store, said the trend among younger people in Guangdong, however – "those born after 1980" – is definitely away from cat. "Younger people, especially, are choosing not to eat cat," she said. "For example, in many markets there are now more pet shops than there are shops selling cat meat."
Bill Schiller Asia Chef Bureau The Star.comIf you have time, please read the 113 comments on the article, comment yourself..
Powered by | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|
Friday, July 03, 2009
|
It was impossible to input blogs during the past days.. this information had been received on 29th June 2009 : Dog Cull has come to an end. Thank you to all the activists who mailed the Chinese authorities to protest, and all the ones who supported, made donations to the animal rights groups (AAF, HSUS, IFAW, ActAsia) who worked together to bring an end to the dog cull. From Human Society of US Reports from various sources inside China confirm that a dog cull of nightmarish proportions in Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province, China has finally come to an end. This massive, government-initiated, indiscriminate slaughter began May 20th in response to several cases of rabies associated with dog bites. More than 33,000 dogs died a cruel death in the killing spree. The brutality was condemned by animal lovers around the world.
Response to an Outcry
Despite the fact that the local government had vowed earlier this month to continue destroying the animals, it failed to do so—apparently due to strong protest by the Chinese people and mounting pressure from the international community, including Humane Society International (HSI).
According to a reliable source close to the Shaanxi government’s representative office in Beijing, the governor of Shaanxi sent three directives to the Hanzhong government expressing concern over the controversial dog cull carried out in that city.
HSI, in collaboration with Animals Asia Foundation, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and Act Asia for Animals, had earlier sent a letter [PDF] to the governor urging him to intervene and stop the dog cull in his province. Now, it seems that he has heard our message. Meanwhile, HSI’s animal advocates around the world have been adding their signatures to a petition addressed to Chinese president Hu Jintao, urging him to stop the cull immediately and prevent any more such tragedies; and donating to a special fund set up to help sterilize and vaccinate dogs in China. It is thrilling to see that the growing Chinese animal welfare movement has such tremendous support. This turn of events is evidence of their power, and that of caring people around the world, to make a real difference.
A Better Way
As HSI pointed out in letters sent to the governor and other relevant officials, the indiscriminant massacre of thousands of dogs (which here reportedly included both homeless animals and pets) is not a solution to preventing rabies. The slaughter in Hanzhong was supposedly initiated in response to dog bite incidents and a few cases of rabies-caused deaths. However, local citizens believe the government was looking for an excuse to deal with the city’s dog overpopulation problem.
Experience has shown that proper management of street animals through techniques such as sterilization and vaccination is the most effective way to handle such situations. HSI works worldwide to set up such programs with the cooperation of governments and community partners. Our efforts in India, Bhutan and Ethiopia, for example, may serve as useful models.
To help end the use of dog culling as an attempt to avoid rabies, HSI co-sponsored with Act Asia for Animals and Beijing’s Capital Animal Protection Group a forum on Scientific, Effective and Humane Rabies Control. This one-day session, held on June 28th in Beijing, pulled together Chinese officials and experts from the National Disease Control Center, the General Veterinary Bureau of Agriculture Ministry, and the China Medical Foundation.
The forum reached a consensus on the need for China to speed up policy change in favor of adopting a long-term, scientifically-proven and humane rabies prevention program. Members of China’s mainstream media were present at the forum, representing the growing interest in this issue from around the country.
A formal set of recommendations shall be submitted to the appropriate Chinese government offices. Hopefully, the officials of other cities in China will look to more humane methods in the future, and the horror of the Hangzhong/Yangxian dog cull will never be repeated. For now, China’s dog lovers can rest easier—and feel proud, knowing that they helped silence the howls of pain and terror through their own cries for mercy and justice.
Powered by | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|
Thursday, June 25, 2009
|
Princess Elizabeth de Croy passed away in May. She was one of the most beautiful souls that did so much for the animals. She will for sure continue to keep an eye on the animals on this earth, and inspire the many people who will go on with her work. Princesse Elizabeth de Croy was also one patron of Naturwatch Foundation. She will be missed by everyone. Princess Elizabeth de Croy est décédée en Mai dernier. C'était une des plus belles âmes sur terre, qui a contribué à tant faire pour les animaux, par l'intermédiaire de son association Défense et Protection des Animaux, mais aussi par sa générosité evers les autres associations auxquelles elle apportait son soutien. Princesse Elizabeth de Croy était un bienfaiteur de la Fondation Naturwatch (World Animal Day). Elle est regrettée de tous. Nos pensées vont à sa famille. Ce témoignage de Pei-Feng Su résume la tristesse que nous ressentons tous à la disparition d'une grande Dame au coeur généreux.
From Pei-Feng Su
Executive Director ACTAsia for AnimalsIt is with great sadness that I must inform you of the death of our President, Princess Elizabeth de Croy who passed away on 18th May 2009. With her passing, I have not only lost a personal and inspirational friend, but the animal welfare movement has also lost a great activist and leader. She gave shelter to many animals at Défense et Protection des Animaux, her organisation and home in France. She was also very passionate about the suffering of countless animals across the world. She was a true ambassador for animals. Because of her, government officials were willing to talk to animal groups, and the media reported stories on animals in countries where animal welfare was not widely accepted.
Animals and animal groups in Asia could always count on her help - when we asked her for assistance in Taiwan on stray animal issues, including support to lobby for the first companion animal regulations in 1995, her help was immediate and effective.
In the last twenty years, the Princess was an advocate for animals in Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan and China. In 2006, she supported ACTAsia’s first workshop in China. Her initial help and encouragement were invaluable in building our organisation. Princess Elizabeth was admitted to hospital in April and returned to her home in early May. Even on her sickbed she was still determined to learn more about animal welfare issues and how she could help. While in hospital, she said: “It is such a nuisance to die when there is so much more I need to do to help people and animals.” Just a few days before she passed away, we spoke about our latest project in China, and planned to talk more about the work she loved when she recovered. Sadly, this time she could not fight her illness. The day before she passed away, I was at her bed side and said a sad farewell. I thanked her on behalf of myself and all the animals who have benefited from her presence in this world.
Powered by | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|
Sunday, June 14, 2009
|
Just got this email, It was difficult to hold my tears, thinking of all these innocent animals that are so wonderful and give us, humans, so much love. To know that somewhere at the other side of the globe these beautiful animals are being tortured only for the fun of it, then killed, to feel the pains that they all felt at the moment they ended up their life among humans is something that I havent found a word yet to describe.
I join the Chinese Activists to mourn and pray for the millions of innocent dogs that were killed recently in China. May they have a nicer life out there.. in the afterlife.
The pictures are hard to watch, do not scroll down if you are too sensitive. However we post them as to show the cruelty and the violence of such games like dog fighting.
This mail sent from CAPN, just received few minutes ago, with the heartbreaking pictures attached calling for help to stop this madness : in the city of Jinan, after they have been used in games, dogs are taken to a demolition plant where they are left, beaten up and dying. The Animal Rights activists tried to enter the plan which was locked up, finally they found a scene of disaster : dogs that were dead for few days left to rot, a female dog with her puppies, open up.. The people who live near by could hear the dogs crying. They gave alert when they saw guys in uniform driving a commercial truck with dogs at the back of the truck.
The activists mention that the dogs are looked after, they are not stray dogs. They call for help to stop this insanity.
      Hanzhong dog cull update AAF 9 Jun 2009 Sponsored by Animals Asia, Ms Jianghong, the founder of Xi'an Small Animals Rescue Center and representatives of several local animal-welfare groups spent three days in Hanzhong city and the surrounding countryside in Shaanxi Province. They gathered evidence on the cull and spoke with local officials, offering their help with alternative methods of dog control.
They met with a government officer in Hanzhong and offered advice on how to control rabies, passing on an original letter from Animals Asia, which we had previously faxed to them, offering advice on dog population and disease control, as well as help with a vaccination programme.
However, the dog culling continues, with city officials adamant that killing all dogs is the most reliable and fastest way to control disease. They argue that the death of nine people from rabies is adequate reason to clear the area of dogs, whether strays or companions, vaccinated or not.
Outside of Hanzhong city, the team was shocked to discover no dogs at all in the village of Yangxian and the surrounding areas, which had mobilised residents to go out and kill any dog they came across in an effort to make the area dog-free. 
Local animal welfare group representatives confront a dog culling team. The team has also discovered that the area where the dogs are being buried is not subject to any regulation and there is a grave danger that their decaying bodies will pollute the drinking water throughout Shaanxi Province.
With the help of Jianghong, local dog owners grouped together and, supported by more than 200 local residents in Hanzhong city, held a poignant lakeside ceremony to mourn the dogs victimised and brutally killed.
Led by Jianghong (far right), residents hold a moving ceremony in mourning for the dogs slaughtered.
A lone resident offers prayers for a victim, killed and thrown to the side of the road.
In a positive development, local people have now set up Hanzhong Animal Protection Association through which they will press the case for responsible animal welfare and the right to raise their dogs without fear.
Jianghong and her team are now collating their information and will let us have their report as soon as possible. They will also be presenting it to the Shaanxi Province government in the hope that it will influence the city officials to implement proper rabies controls and never cull dogs in the future.
Powered by | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|
Sunday, June 07, 2009
|
Following the previous blog which mentioned the appeal received from the Animal Rights activists in China, here is the update on the dog sculls in China, from Animals Asia Foundation. During the past months, there had been more than one dog scull that was to take place in various towns. Some china governement officials however stopped the dog scull in Heihe in response of the reactions from animal lovers though China. From Jill's Blog : (Jill robinson, President of Animals Asia Foundation and World Animal Day Embassador China) Dogs beaten to death on Hanzhong city streets Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 08:23 PM
The sight of those wretched dogs trying to crawl away from the people bludgeoning them over the head was beyond words. More heartbreaking still was the scene where a dog was surrounded by men with poles and began to wag his tail in welcome - before screaming in agony as the poles and rods came down upon his body. Howling in terror, he tried to raise himself on already broken limbs as the blows came thick and fast and sent him crashing once more to the ground. Blood gathered in pools around his head before he was picked up by one of his back legs and dragged away. The pile of dead dogs grew - and people in the video laughed – satisfied with a job which had so cruelly stilled the beating hearts of our best friends.
 I watched the film in disbelief – thinking surely we were of a different species to those dreadful people so utterly disconnected to the agony of animals who feel pain and terror and a host of emotions so similar to ours. That life can be so dismissively snuffed out as if it held no importance in this world reflects so appallingly on a country and people I have grown to love.
 Culling in China is back - in all its bloody glory - and we need your help to make a stronger push than ever before to drive it into the dark ages where it belongs. Local animal welfare groups in China are also appalled –and we are working closely with them in appeals to the authorities – united in our call that dogs deserve better.
Animals Asia is trying to raise funds to support these groups in their efforts to stop the cull and provide the Hanzhong city authorities with an alternative solution to dog population and disease control. (donation link below)
Jill
Local animal welfare groups rally to help Hanzhong city dogs
Several local animal welfare groups are sending representatives to Hanzhong to gather evidence on the cull and offer their help with alternative methods of dog control. Animals Asia is sponsoring their trip and we have also offered to provide the city with free rabies vaccinations, in support of their efforts to instigate change in future animal population management practices.
Ms.Jiang Hong, the founder of Xi'an Small Animals Rescue Center, Mr. Chen（陈明才）from Chongqing Small Animal Protection Association, Ms. Qin（秦肖娜）from Capital Animal Protection Association, Ms. Du（杜玉凤）from Sichuan Guangyuan Small Animal Association, will travel to Hanzhong with three media representatives and two volunteers. They will keep us up to date with what is happening on the ground and provide us and the Shaanxi Province government with a full report on their findings.
We will update this page with regular bulletins from Hanzhong as we receive them.
Local government officials sanction mass slaughter to make Hanzhong a “dog-free” city
 Almost immediately following news that the authorities in Heihe have agreed to suspend their previously announced dog cull, we now hear that the authorities in Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province have commenced a cull there. While people in China and across the world are congratulating the Heihe authorities for their cancellation of the cull and proposed promotion of responsible dog ownership, the authorities in Hanzhong should be ashamed for their barbaric response to a rabies outbreak which does not even begin to address the problem at source.
The decision to implement a cull is apparently based on the health and safety of the local population, but the reality is that this not an effective solution in stopping the spread of disease such as rabies. The vacuum which culls leave is very quickly filled by new stray animals with similar problems of those before. Responsible Trap Neuter Release (TNR) programmes allow desexed, vaccinated, microchipped and now healthier animals to remain in the area, where they will prevent new and potentially diseased animals from entering their territory, and where their population will gradually decrease. Further, culling is seen as a cruel and hastily implemented massacre which brings disgrace to the country in the eyes of the international community. The unnecessarily cruel method of slaughter – literally beating the dogs to death – is unconscionable and incompatible with any reasonable standard of animal welfare. In India, where rabies is widespread, a recent report by the Animal Welfare Board of India has shown the results of a study which compares two different methods of controlling this disease. Conclusive results from this study show that responsible “spay/neuter/vaccinate/release” programmes have reduced the incidence of rabies by a significant percentage. “Since 1996, instances of rabies in humans have reduced from 120 to five a year in Chennai” said Dr. K. Manivasan, Joint Commissioner (Health), Chennai Corporation.
The study covered two periods; the first from 1980 to 1995 when the killing of dogs was implemented as the method of choice of rabies control, and the second period from 1996 to 2005 after the killing was replaced by spay/vaccinate and return programmes. The results showed a rapid distinct down trend of rabies after 1996 “and was further proof, if any were needed, that Animal Birth Control/Vaccination is the only sensible way to go to control the street dog population and rabies.”
Similarly, Dr. Francette Dusan, a WHO expert on diseases passed from animals to people, said effective rabies control required coordinated efforts between human and animal health agencies and authorities. “This has not been pursued adequately to date in China with most control efforts consisting of purely reactive dog culls,” Dusan said. To access the WHO materials on rabies control please click here: Fact sheet 99, Dec 2008.
In this spirit of coordination, Animals Asia has also been funding Trap Neuter Release programmes for cats in China. Stray cats are collected by local welfare groups and animal lovers, and transported to clinics where they are desexed and vaccinated. Once they have recovered from their surgery, these more healthy animals are placed back into the original area from where they came and embraced and cared for by the community. Suddenly street cats become therapy cats and provide companionship for those who enjoy their presence such as the elderly and lonely.
The issue of licensing and vaccinating dogs must also be explored more effectively in China. The authorities of various provinces previously raised the license for pet owners to such an extent that people hid their dogs away rather than paying such extortionate fees. This in itself could have contributed to the rabies problem - particularly in rural areas - and potentially left these dogs vulnerable to the disease - especially if they were abandoned, escaped, or entered the live animal markets. Animals Asia often witnesses pedigree animals in these markets - which can be bought as pets or food.
There is significant risk of rabies being found in the dogs caught up in the meat trade, where they are caged, transported and kept in the markets en-masse. Many are wounded as a result of inappropriate handling and the abuse they receive at the hands of the traders and the rabies virus can easily spread through bites or scratches or even from saliva entering open wounds. Indeed, evidence is emerging in countries such as China, Vietnam and the Philippines where the preparation and consumption of these animals is putting people's lives at risk. Rabies is one disease which can be reduced by implementing responsible and humane management practices for stray dogs and cats, and by removing these animals from the food chain.
Several authorities such as Beijing and Guangzhou have now implemented responsible procedures in an attempt to prevent disease. In recognition of the important role that dogs play in society, city departments in Beijing reduced the licence fee from 5000 Rmb to 1000 Rmb, as of October 15th 2003. Subsequently the number of registered dogs shot up to 410,000 citywide and experts estimate that this represents roughly 90 per cent of the total number of dogs in the capital - all of which are now vaccinated against rabies.
Allowing people to have companion animals is very much in keeping with the change in China's social structure where dogs and cats are seen today as playing an important role in developing society. During the Olympic Games in Beijing, and during natural disasters, such as the earthquake in Sichuan, sniffer dogs were risking and losing their lives to protect and help the people of China. Similarly, customs dogs and even guide dogs for the blind are being introduced into community service and the public are gradually recognising this species as one which can benefit our day to day lives, rather than providing us with food.
Dogs provide comfort for the elderly and emotional support for those who are childless or single. As a result, more and more people are turning to dogs for companionship and support, and pet ownership is booming, with just over 150 million pet dogs throughout the nation - one for every nine people. (Xinhua News Agency 14th February 2005).
As with similar studies worldwide, recent research in China, jointly conducted by the Psychology College of Beijing Normal University and Companion Animal Research and Information Centre (CARIC) also concluded that pet owners have better physical and mental health than non-pet owners.
"The human-pet bond is one of attachment and loyalty. When we as a society pay attention to it, we can also benefit from it by improving the quality of life for at least some social strata in very tangible ways. Hopefully our research can help the government in its pet-related regulations." Professor Zheng Richang, Beijing Normal University.
Dogs and other companion animals also provide an important financial, as well as emotional, contribution to China: according to the Beijing Kennel Club, pet owners in the city spend more than 500 million yuan on their pets a year. Experts predict that the annual sale of pet food and accompanying necessities and accessories in China may exceed 6 billion yuan by 2008 and that the market potential for the "pet economy" could reach a minimum of 15 billion yuan.
Embracing dogs as an integral part of our society also has long-term ramifications in the control or reduction of national healthcare costs. Studies by Professor Bruce Headey, at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic & Social Research, puts the amount of national savings in Australia or Germany at billions of dollars.
Animals Asia's successful Dr. Dog animal therapy programme sees over 300 dedicated volunteers and their dogs visiting hospitals, disabled centres, elderly homes, orphanages and schools spreading warmth and love to people in need across Asia. Dr. Dog operates in Hong Kong, Japan, India, the Philippines Taiwan and, most recently in China, in Chengdu, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. As a result, we have been inundated with calls from organisations across China requesting visits and from dog owners enquiring how to join this uniquely beneficial programme.
"The delight that Dr. Dog brings to our patients can never be done by medicine." Professor Jinxiang Li, The Department of Palliative Care, West China Fourth Hospital of Sichuan University.
With dogs offering so many benefits to all sectors of society, it is vital that they are treated with the respect and compassion that they deserve. We urge the authorities in Hanzhong to end the cruel and senseless culling and to follow the example of other countries in Asia who have introduced wide-ranging protective measures for companion animals and who promote far reaching education programmes of responsible pet ownership, rabies awareness and humane stray dog and cat control. Animals Asia and the groups with whom we work with would be pleased to cooperate with the authorities on all levels to introduce and advise on public education initiatives to ensure that dogs and people can peacefully and safely co-exist in Hanzhong.
In this context, we are forwarding a message to the Hanzhong authorities reflecting our concerns and requesting an urgent meeting to discuss this matter further. We look forward to working with them towards a more harmonious relationship between people and companion animals.
To donate to the dog cull appeal, please click here.
Local government suspends cull in the face of strong opposition
Late last week we were alerted to a proposed dog cull in Heihe city in Hei Long Jiang province in China through emails and letters from local people horrified at the prospect.
While we investigated over the weekend, we received the news that the local government had a change of heart and stopped the cull for now, in response to the furious reaction from dog lovers, not just in Heihe city, but from across China.
Part of that protest was instigated by the leader of a Xia Men animal welfare group who attended our recent Companion Animal Symposium in Chengdu. He sent the city officials a letter based on Animals Asia guidelines and on a sample letter sent by us previously in a similar situation. He also appealed to all animal welfare groups in China and animal lovers to add their support by sending this letter to the Heihe government.
We also sent a letter to the city officials, not only praising their decision to stop the cull, but also suggesting ideas for better dog management and offering our help with public education, etc.
You can read our letter to the Heihe government officials below. We will continue to monitor the situation in Heihe and let you know if we need your support for further action.
Letter to the Heihe Government officials from Animals Asia Foundation :
25 May 2009
Attention: Heihe City Government
Dear Sir/Madam,
We have heard that Heihe local government has decided to temporarily suspend the dog cull announced last week – and that in the meantime, you will be seeking suggestions and comments from different departments and the public in order to make regulations on dogs in the city more complete and humane.
We are also pleased to know that, before the more detailed regulations are launched, the related government department will promote responsible dog ownership. We believe these acts by the Heihe Government will be highly praised by animal lovers in China and beyond.
As an animal-welfare organisation working in China for many years, we also hope that we can provide some suggestions to the city government on dog management.
Heihe is not the first city to use a dog cull to tackle the problem of rabies. Two years ago, Mouding County in Yunnan, and Jinan in Shandong used a similar method. While we understand that your decision to cull the city's dog population is based on the safety and health of the public, having such a cruel, hastily implemented emergency massacre is not an effective and efficient way to stop and control the spread of rabies.
The Animal Welfare Board of India recently published a report comparing two different ways of preventing rabies. The report shows that implementing a TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) programme for stray dogs can greatly reduce the incidence of rabies outbreaks. For example, in Chennai, which has run a TNR programme since 1996, the cases of rabies have reduced from 120 to five each year.
The study compared the two stages of rabies prevention in Chennai. The first stage was from 1980 to 1995, when culling was the main method used to prevent rabies; the second stage was from 1996 to 2005, when TNR had replaced the dog cull. The researchers found that from 1996 the number of rabies cases have plummeted, and there is more evidence to prove that neutering and vaccination are the only effective way to control both the number of stray dogs and rabies.
Dr Francette Dusan of WHO also supports this view. She said that in order to control rabies effectively, we need the cooperation of human and animal health organisations. "This has not been pursued adequately to date in China with most control efforts consisting of purely reactive dog culls”. (Associated Press, 1 August, 2009)
Last year, many places in China carried out dog culls supposedly to stop the spread of rabies. These proved yet again that dog culls cannot effectively prevent disease; instead they hurt the feelings of dog lovers in China and all over the world, and will damage the image of Heihe, both in China and abroad.
It is important also to realise that it is impossible to prohibit the public from keeping dog as pets. On the contrary, the important role companion animals play has been widely recognised by our society. In China, the importance of dogs as members of society is gaining more recognition due to the change in social structure. For example, families that don’t have children or single, elderly people see their dog as a companion and an emotional comfort.
For these reasons, the number of people keeping pets is increasing and the number of pet dogs has reached 1.5 million. On average, one of every nine people will have one pet dog.
There are studies from all over the world, including one from China recently, all of them proving the value of companion animals. Research conducted by the Beijing Teachers Education University School of Psychology and The Companion Animals’ Research Center, concluded that keeping pets can make people healthier.
Dogs and other companion animals not only contribute on the emotional side, but also to China’s economy. Pet owners in Beijing spend up to 500 million RMB on their pets each year. Experts say spending on pet food and other accessories in China was over 6 billion RMB in 2008. The market potential of the “pet economy” is up to 15 billion.
Animals Asia’s Dr Dog programme also provides solid proof of dogs being our best companions. Over 300 Dr Dog volunteers regularly visit hospitals, disabled centres, elderly homes, schools and orphanages, bringing love and care to the needy in six countries in Asia. Currently, the Dr Dog programme is running in Hong Kong, Japan, India, The Philippines, Taiwan and in mainland China (Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu). We have over 70 Dr Dogs in China, where this programme has attracted a lot of pet owners who are very interested in joining Dr Dog, and a lot of organisations looking forward to our Dr Dog visits. Dogs have contributed so much to mankind, they deserve our respect and they deserve to be treated well.
We sincerely ask the Heihe government to amend the current Act, using Hong Kong, Shenzhen and other cities’ more effective and scientifically proven methods of dog-management regulations.
Please implement measures that protect the rights of companion animals, strengthen the promotion of “being a responsible pet owner”, and use a humane way to control the numbers of stray dogs and cats.
Animals Asia and our partners are willing to work with the Heihe government on public education, ensuring both humans and dogs can live safely and harmoniously together in Heihe. At the same time, we also suggest the Heihe government strengthen its cooperation with local animal protection organisation and the local community to develop a scientifically proven and effective way of managing dogs.
Under these circumstances, we sincerely hope that Hehei’s related departments can accept our suggestions and use a more humane way to control and prevent rabies, giving innocent animals the chance to live.
I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,
Jill Robinson
Founder and CEO
Animals Asia Foundation
Powered by | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|
Saturday, June 06, 2009
|
Please write to the Chinese Ambassy in your contry, to give support to the Chinese Animal Rights activists , to protest the massacre of hundred dogs that has started again in a China province. THANK YOU ! The pictures that are shown here are not meant to schock, but only to show what is happening again in China. Anouk The Chnese Animal Rights Activists Appeal : 1st June 2009
As of May 23, local government in Han Zhong, in the province of Shan Xi, has issued an order to kill all dogs found on the streets. Normal citizens from the very young to working professionals are walking the streets with large sticks to bludgeon any dog in sight to death. It has been estimated that in one day, 6,000 dogs were massacred. As seen in photos, people are smiling and appear to be excited as they march to beat these animals to death. There are many Chinese that are outraged with this behavior. We believe that media coverage is necessary to bring attention to these atrocities, and hopefully influence our government to encourage humane actions toward dogs, rather than savagely beating these animals to death.
Excuses are often made by the government to justify this behavior. If one animal is found with rabies, an order is often issued to kill all dogs. We would like to ask for training assistance to educate our officials on how to humanely euthanize an animal when necessary, and how to prevent these situations by spaying, neutering, and vaccinating pets and using other methods to humanely control the animals. Is it possible to have any veterinarians or other experts volunteer to take on this issue with us?
We, as Chinese people all over the world, are shocked and outraged. Could you please use all of your power and resources to pressure the Chinese government to sees these acts of violence against these dogs.
China Blog - HERE
Powered by | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
|
Democraty in China ... yeuuuuu .. When I asked Jens Galshiot about animal rights in China, he agreed that it was necessary to fight for the chinese population's human rights so they could think by themselves to be able to help-spread respect animals rights in China.
Anouk
Jens Galschiot ( The Colour Orange ) was expelled from China on Saturday 30th May. A week ago, we had received this email from Jens : Give the Chinese students their history back! In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre we ask you to help us spreading the information about what happened in Beijing on June 4th 1989. We have scanned all fliers, newspapers, photos, etc. related to the massacre. Download it, place it at a library or give it as a present to Chinese people who work or study in your neighbourhood. For more info about the campaign, see: Download the documents here: We’ve just sent out a press release about the appeal to support the memory of the crackdown, see: This year Jens Galschiot has been invited to Hong Kong by the Democracy movement in Hong Kong to join the commemoration in relation to the 20th anniversary of the crackdown. China’s government is intensifying its effort to censor the massacre. Last year Hong Kong’s immigration authorities refused to let Galschiot enter Hong Kong and it is feared that the same will happen again this year. Demands have been made to give Galschiot permission to enter, from the press and several members of Hong Kong’s parliament. Furthermore the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has negotiated with the Secretary for Security in Hong Kong. Therefore Galschiot has decided to go to Hong Kong once again. The artist will bring along two bronze sculptures which are to be handed over to Hong Kong’s students as well as the Government in Hong Kong on the occasion of the 20th anniversary. See details on the case at Global warming. We are preparing a huge art happening titled SevenMeters.net where we will use blinking red lights as a symbol of the impending climate catastrophe. We will build up a global network of climate activists and others who want to highlight the dire consequences for humanity. At the campaign office we are working furiously to launch the project. We are constructing our website, where you can already join the action if you are triggered by the idea of using red lights to focus on the climate crisis, see Best regards Vagn Frausing Art In Defense Of Humanism and Jens Galschiot, sculptor Press released Aidoh dk 1st June 2009 **Galschiot expelled as revenge for Dalai Lama visit ? *As Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot landed in Hong Kong on Saturday 30 May he was expelled after 5 hours of interrogation and sent back with the first plane. China will with this expulsion of a Danish citizen humiliate an punish the Danish government for the meeting with the Dalai Lama – so the rumours circulating in Hong Kong. *The Danish sculptor had come to Hong Kong with his two sons and a documentary filmmaker to participate in the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre on 4th June. Danish consul Tomas Andersen had come to the gate to meet the artist. Numerous reporters had booked a return ticket to catch the opportunity for an interview before Galschiot’s passing the pass control. *At the pass control Jens Galschiot was sorted out for interrogation. The other three members of the Danish group entered smoothly. The interrogation started immediately, although Galschiot requested the assistance of the Danish consul and Albert Ho, MP and of the most respected lawyers of Asia. Both of them had come to the airport for this very reason. Only after 4 – 5 hours of interrogation the consul and the lawyer were allowed to meet Galschiot. The consul had been calling Immigration every 20 minutes requesting contact to the Danish sculptor. After ended interrogation Galschiot was escorted to the airplane. *”I was escorted by 15 airport officials and a guy filmed the scene. It must have been a peculiar view. They were all circulating around me and conducted me in and out of lifts and through various backdoors. Finally a short bus trip brought me to the waiting plane which I boarded by a special staircase outside the boarding area. Presumably they were keen to avoid photo documentation of the expulsion. Maybe the authorities felt shameful of the perspective of having photos of the expulsion published in the media. Anyway, I was constantly filmed as long as was in charge of the immigration authorities. I don’t know for what purpose” – Jens Galschiot explains on his arrival in the airport of Copenhagen Sunday morning. *Astonishment at the expulsion. So was the reaction of the artist, the Danish consul and the lawyer Albert Ho. For months there had been a vivid correspondence and a debate about Jens Galschiot’s claim to receive an advance admission to Hong Kong. The issue was debated in the press, even among the PM’s of Hong Kong. The President of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (parliament) had taken contact to the secretary of security. So it seemed likely that the artist would be allowed entry to Hong Kong, to join the anniversary ceremonies and to hand over two sculptures as a gift – one to the Hong Kong students and one for the Legislative Council. *“On this positive background I decided to book the tickets”, Jens Galschiot says and continues: “Albert asked me if there had been some event during the last couple days ahead of my trip to Hong Kong that might have changed the authorities’ apparently positive response about my allowance to entry. *I could not instantly find any explanation, until I read the speculations in the Hong Kong press that my expulsion might be a reaction on the Danish Prime minister’s meeting with the Dalai Lama. This meeting had triggered an irate protest from the Chinese Embassy. So it seems plausible to conclude that we have to do with an act of revenge by the Chinese regime. The expulsion of me as a Danish citizen is to be seen as an admonition and an attempt to humiliate the Danish government. Even if the Hongkongers were promised the principle of ‘One country – Two systems” when they were reunited with China in 1997, obviously a constantly bigger part of the administration of Hong Kong is governed from Beijing, and it is my clear impression that China is the instigator of this expulsion. *This expulsion makes me really angry! With the support from many of the parliament members of Hong Kong and from almost all parties of the Danish parliament and the Danish Consulate in Hong Kong, I have tried for months to get a clarification about whether I am unwanted in Hong Kong, because I would prevent this to happen. Dozens of letters in this case have been exchanged and kilometers of articles in the press have been written. Nothing has been hidden. All documents are published on my website and the director of Hong Kong’s migration authorities has personally told me that like all other EU citizens I have free entrance to Hong Kong. *I have to travel 12.000 km just for being questioned for 5 hours in the airport before being sent back with the first flight. And even without any reason. It’s really unfair! I am totally without legal rights when I cannot beforehand know whether I am unwanted or not. This procedure is not worthy a community founded on the rule of law. But the problem is maybe that Hong Kong is developing into a community which is not based on the rule of law. *Maybe Denmark and EU should consider cancelling or changing the agreements about free entrance to and from Hong Kong. Obviously these rules don’t work anymore, because China has decided to use the entry rules to Hong Kong as a political manifestation, both towards their own citizens in Hong Kong and the Danish government, that they will not tolerate criticism of the Chinese regime. In my situation I would prefer a visa demand, so that I would know beforehand whether I could get in or not. *China critics are without legal rights when they want to go into Hong Kong. This lack of rights is a disaster, because Hong Kong is the only place on Chinese soil where criticism can be aired. Hong Kong is the hub of the Chinese democracy movement – a refuge for democracy fighters. I expect the Danish government to take action, to make clear how the rules should be in the future, and to protest against the expulsion of a peaceful Danish citizen, who cooperates with a lawful Chinese democratic movement. Especially because the expulsion is probably a direct consequence of the fact that the Danish Prime minister has chosen to meet the Dalai Lama. A decision that I fully support. *Galschiot’s two sons are still in Hong Kong and will take part in the planned events as representatives of the artist. The Danish documentary photographer has also decided to stay in order to cover the events. ****** **Contact addresses and further information and background: *The Danish group in Hong Kong: Lasse Galschiot Markus, mobile +852 5174 6301 Kasper Galschiot Markus (photos), mobile +852 5174 6300 Niller Madsen (documentary footage and video), mobile: +45 40 215 415 *Contact to the Hong Kong Alliance (the democracy movement): Secretary Ocean Fung, +852 2782 6111 *Contact to Jens Galschiot in Denmark: Workshop in Odense +45 6618 4058, mobile +45 4044 7058 Private +45 6614 4038 *Contact to the Consulate General of Denmark in Hong Kong: Consul General Jørgen Møllegaard Vice-consul Tomas Andersen (assisted Jens Galschiot in the HK airport) *Immigration Department in Hong Kong: The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region *Contact to the President of Hong Kong’s parliament: The President of the LegCo, Hon Jasper Tsang Yok-sing Room 109, Legislative Council Building 8 Jackson Road, Central Tel. +852 2869 9461, Fax +852 2877 9600
Powered by | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
|
While the Chinese Fur and Leather Industry is preparing thier huge annual expo in June, Many compassionate people speak up for the animals : sponsored by Humane Society International (HSI), Animals Asia Foundation's President Jill Robinson and the staff with many delegates from the 49 animal welfare groups in China gathered last weekend in Sishuan... More hope .. (Jill is World Animal Day Ambassador and consutant for China) From Jill's Blog - AAF : Tuesday March 14, 2009 I wish you could have been at the Sichuan Hotel this weekend, hearing the leaders of 49 animal-welfare groups and 18 vet clinics across China speaking about the successes and struggles of rescuing animals, caring for animals – and giving animals their voice.
With generous funding from major sponsors Humane Society International (HSI), we were able to fund flights and accommodation for the delegates – almost none of whom would have been able to afford the expenses themselves. Animal Guardians also gave a generous donation towards the symposium.
It was wonderful to see Peter Li again. Peter (pictured here) is now representing HSI and has been a long-time friend, supporter and adviser to Animals Asia since we first began.
Our own Animals Asia staff worked non-stop to make sure that the conference was nothing less than flawless from start to finish. Christie Yang headed up a team comprising Rainbow, Suki, Sailing, Jackey, Cherry, Irene and Betty, who were smooth and professional throughout.
And so the presentations began. Almost a year on from the terrible earthquake in Sichuan, pictures flashed up onto the screens showing determined welfarists going into the devastated areas last May.
So many lucky dogs and cats owe their lives to brave people around the country who shared “lessons learned” from the disaster relief, while we all silently prayed that people and animals would never see such devastion again.
More presentations and pictures showed Chinese activists demonstrating against the live animal markets and the consumption of dogs and cats – shouting about the victims’ plight from the inside of a cage. It was clear from the crowds around them, and the petitions being signed, that the general public is very much warming to the issue of animal rights.
We had a passionate discussion about humane euthanasia with shelter managers, who struggle to care for animals often inflicted with terrible injury and disease.
We know these animals deserve the best chance and that miracles can happen, but the reality is that many such animals die a lingering death if left to their own devices. In a lively discussion, we debated the appropriate drugs – and appropriate reasons – for humanely putting these poor animals to sleep.
Everyone sympathised as Ms Ha admitted plunging into the depths of despair when caring for hundreds of rescued dogs and cats, and then we smiled with relief as she stressed her determination never to give up, and proudly showed us her brand new “dog tattoo” on her arm, which lifts her spirits today.
It was clear to everyone that we should more vigorously promote programmes, such as desexing and “trap, neuter release”, helping to reduce the number of dogs and cats, so that carers in turn can reduce their shelter overload, reduce their financial headaches, and reduce their emotional heartache – allowing them to be educators, rather than collectors.
And some more photos from the symposium - here's Jiang Hong of the Hong Shiliu Companion Animal Rescue Center in Xian:
Our own vet nurse Hayley:
Our Animal Welfare Director Mark Jones:
The delegates' visit to our Moon Bear Rescue Centre in Chengdu ....
... where they enjoyed a fantastic veggie lunch whipped up by a wonderful local Buddhist restaurant called Zao Zi Shu: 
And finally, a pic of Christie and I proving that the symposium was not all about hard work!
For more on the symposium and to read our resolutions, please go to our web story.
Jill
Powered by | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|
Sunday, May 17, 2009
|
The world's largest leather and fur trade. Let's hope that Europe will ban their products. Although I am pessimistic, the more animal rights groups fight the more these industries progress. China will no doubt become of the first client for Canadian Seal products now that EU has been its imports. Please support the animal rights groups in China, they need us to help them fight this industry of cruelty. From Crienglish website China (Shijiazhuang) International Leather & Fur Exposition 2009, supported by the Ministry of Commerce, will be held at Shijiazhuang International Exhibition Center from June 18 to June 22, 2009.
This year marks the first year of the exposition. Promoting themes such as facing market, promoting trade, showing products, cooperating for mutual benefit, the exposition seeks to promote the leather and fur industry technology upgrading and innovation, show new products and new processing, keep up with the new trends in international development, lead the leather and fur consumption of the new trend. The exposition's sponsor is China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs and Native Produce. The organization's president Huo Jianguo explains.
"Generally, the role of an exposition is to provide a platform for enterprises to communicate and seek business opportunities and partners. This time, as well as promoting the development of leather & fur industry, we also hope to give a hand to the city's economy."
China has the world's largest leather and fur production centers and sales centers. In 2008, the export and import of leather, fur and other related products amounted to 4.32 billion US dollars, with more than 16,000 enterprises. As the provincial capital of Hebei, Shijiazhuang is one of the world's leather and fur products trading and processing centers. International exhibitions of leather and fur are conducted in leather production centers or sales centers. Zhang Diankui, Deputy Mayor of Shijiazhuang, makes an introduction.
"The leather and fur products of Shijiazhuang own some reputation in the world. But we are still concerned about many problems such as distribution channel, product structure and how to enhance domestic demand."
The Expo will use 10,000 square meters of total exhibition space. A wide range of enterprises will be invited such as leather and fur products manufactory enterprises, import and export enterprises and leather processing equipment and chemical raw materials factory. Visitors who are interested can pay a visit.
 The animal rights activists do a splendid job to inform about the cruelty that hides behind each peace of fur and leather, let's hope that the Chinese population will respond, that less people attend the exhibition and more important dont buy furs and leather products !
Powered by | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
|
From World Animal Day : April 2009 :
We are delighted to announce that Jill Robinson has kindly agreed to become
'Adviser to Asia's World Animal Day Ambassadors'
As Asia is such a huge continent, we are seeking to appoint Ambassadors in as many countries as we possibly can. With this in mind, we thought it would be a very good idea to appoint an adviser - someone with a wealth of knowledge and expertise on Asian animal welfare issues who would be well equipped to hold this very important role.
We feel that many potentially great Ambassadors would be more willing to come forward and offer their services if they know they have someone to call on for advice, should the need arise. As Jill has all the necessary qualifications and has been our Ambassador in Asia for the past year, naturally she was our first choice!
World Animal Day Executives.
Congratulations, Jill ! Everyone in China who wants to connect to Jill, please check on
World Animal Day Website - HERE - select "Ambassadors" - select "China" to get Jill's datas.
Please join World Animal Day Myspace - HERE - Take part into this special event for the animals. Let's show the world that we care for the animals.
Blessings
Anouk
Powered by | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|
Thursday, April 30, 2009
|
Published On Tuesday, April 28, 2009 10:04 PM
The Harvard Crimson
By LEWIS E. BOLLARD
I could hear the howls from three blocks away. But I still gasped as I walked into the sprawling Dong Xuan live-animal market in Hanoi, Vietnam. Dogs, many with open wounds, cowed in the corners of tiny wire cages stacked five high, as restaurateurs and butchers haggled over slaughter prices. Monkeys, chickens, and lizards huddled in cages scarcely larger than their bodies. In one cage, two young rabbits silently shook in fear as a python was placed in alongside them.
For the last three semesters I’ve written a Crimson column on animal protection, and for many years I’ve been a strict vegetarian. During that time, many friends and readers have voiced their surprise that I care so much about such an unlikely cause. Many, I think, have simply assumed I’ve always been this way—as if I were born with a PETA membership card and an inexplicably visceral distaste for KFC.
Yet, for the first 15 years of my life, the opposite was true: I ate meat, attended rodeos, and even occasionally went hunting in our family’s forest. A longtime vegetarian friend recently remembered that I teased her in middle school for her “rabbit diet” of fruit and vegetables. So what changed? In this, my last Crimson column, I would like to tell the story of how I became an animal advocate and explain why I believe history will judge our generation harshly based on our treatment of animals.
Looking back, I would love to pretend that my life changed after my chance encounter with the Vietnamese live-animal market. But it didn’t. In my mind, vegetarianism remained the preserve of health-obsessed teenage girls and animal rights the territory of self-righteous former hippies. Being neither, I returned to New Zealand and continued attending meat-filled barbeques at weekend rugby games.
But, if I was determined to never become a PETA acolyte, I also couldn’t shake entirely what I had seen in Vietnam. I read Matthew Scully’s beautiful book Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy and began to wonder if our meat-production system merely sanitized and institutionalized the cruelty I had seen in Vietnam. Increasingly unsettled, I made a fateful decision to visit a slaughterhouse.
From its exterior, the slaughterhouse I visited looked very unlike the chaotic street market in Vietnam—its whitewashed walls satisfy our desire to ignore how meat is made. But inside the process was just as menacing: Huge chutes drove a pig every three seconds toward her death.
As I stood on the kill floor, I watched the moment when each pig, emerging from the chute, sensed its fate; the sudden piercing squeal followed by the too-late attempt to turn and run—some pigs literally attempting to scramble up vertical walls—as metal shackles were clamped around their ankles. And I watched as the shackles hoisted each pig into the air and as the slaughterer’s knife sent blood splattering across my overalls.
Then I watched as the mechanical disassembly line swung into action. First, the scalding tank that loosened the pig’s skin, then the series of machines and knife-wielding workers who swiftly converted the pig into a plastic-wrapped meat parcel. I asked one worker, “Do pigs ever get skinned alive?” “No,” he quickly replied, and then modified, “Well, when they do, I get really annoyed about it; that creates more work.”
American slaughterhouses kill 10 billion chickens, pigs, and cows every year in such conditions. Yet more troubling are the lives these animals lead before their deaths. Most farm animals today never feel sunlight, fresh air, or grass beneath their feet. Confined in narrow veal crates, gestation crates, and battery cages, millions of calves, pigs, and hens cannot even turn around or extend their limbs. And they live like this—sentient creatures capable of feeling pain and pleasure—for their entire wretched lives.
This year I wrote my senior thesis on those cages. What struck me most forcefully was how the horrific has become normal. Last week, a pig factory farm in Shuyer County, Illinois, burnt down. The owners had economized by neither installing a sprinkler system nor a night watchman who could release the pigs. In the ensuing blaze, 11,000 pigs were burnt alive, many struggling frantically to escape their cages—firefighters recalled the horrific squeals they heard. Yet nothing changed. The owners promptly claimed insurance and will soon rebuild their factory farm.
Such stories, and the broader reality they encapsulate, first persuaded me to buy only free-range meat, and later to become a strict vegetarian. I’ve never fully accepted any abstract theory of animal rights, nor do I think one needs to in order to sense that something has gone horribly wrong. For me, the horrors of the slaughterhouse and the suffering of the factory farm attest to that.
We are all complicit in a great moral crisis. But there is also hope: By informing ourselves, supporting political change, and even going vegetarian, we can end factory farming. I hope that I have persuaded you over the past year and a half that we must.
Lewis E. Bollard ’09 is a social studies concentrator in Kirkland House. His column appears on alternate Wednesdays.
Powered by | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|
|
|
|