Dog's life in China is eat or be eaten

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Dog's life in China is eat or be eaten

The Age

By Mary-Anne Toy, Beijing

February 4, 2006

 

IN THE Year of the Dog, life for China's canines can

mean wearing a Gucci coat and eating gourmet meals —

or becoming a fur coat and a traditional " warming "

winter casserole.

 

Mao Zedong's dictum that pets were a bourgeois conceit

has long been brushed aside as China's new rich buy

dogs as pets and get them designer accessories,

acupuncture, day care and spa treatments. But animal

rights activists estimate that at least 10 million

dogs are still being killed in appalling ways for food

and their pelts.

 

France's Society for the Protection of Animals issued

a new year appeal this week to Chinese President Hu

Jintao to end the slaughter. The society and other

animal rights groups claim that many animals are

killed slowly to " enhance " the meat's flavour, a

charge not denied by dog farmers who matter-of-factly

state that bleeding a dog to death while it is

conscious makes the meat more tender.

 

Annie Mather, executive director of the Animals Asia

Foundation in Hong Kong, said the rise in pet

ownership had not reduced the practice of eating dog

meat. " From our research, the dog-eating industry is

large and growing across the country, " Ms Mather said.

 

In several provinces, local governments are

encouraging dog farming and since raising dogs for

meat can offer three to four times the profit of

poultry or pork, many farmers are taking up the idea.

 

In Peixian county, in Jiangsu province, enterprising

farmers began importing bigger breeds such as St

Bernards and Newfoundlands several years ago.

Cross-breeding with local dogs produces a

fast-growing, meaty dog with an allegedly superior

taste that is ready for slaughter at four to six

months. Breeders advertise openly and proudly on

Chinese-language websites and claim growing domestic

demand from restaurants and export to countries such

as South Korea.

 

Beijing has more than 120 restaurants offering dog

meat, which is traditionally prized in the cold winter

months for its " warming " effects.

 

Andrew Butler, spokesman for animal rights group Peta

in the Asia Pacific region, said the West sometimes

saw China as an easy target because the Chinese had

not, until recently, seen anything wrong with

practices such as skinning dogs alive or slitting

their throats without stunning them first.

 

" The cruelty isn't hidden here as it is in the West

(in factory farms); you can see it more blatantly in

the markets and because it's cats and dogs (Western)

people are more shocked, " Mr Butler said.

 

The other difference is that China has no animal

protection legislation.

 

Dog ownership has jumped from 5 per cent in 1999 to 15

per cent in 2004. The pool of more than 150 million

pet owners — many of whom are opposed to eating dogs —

has created a market worth an estimated 15 billion

yuan ($A2.5 billion) a year.

 

Animals Asia is hoping to persuade them to become

active animal rights lobbyists.

 

For the authorities, things are less clear cut. With

millions still in poverty and dire environmental and

social crises to deal with, the life of a dog is not a

national priority. Guangzhou province, which has been

under attack over its annual mass culling of stray

dogs, points out that every day two to three people

are bitten by stray dogs. Strays outnumber pets and

rabies is China's most deadly infectious disease,

leaving AIDS in its dust.

 

" Mad dog disease " , as the Chinese call it, killed 2651

people in 2004.

 

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/dogs-life-in-china-is-eat-or-be-eaten/2006/0\

2/03/1138958908252.html

 

 

 

 

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