Dogs' days are numbered in China

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Dogs' days are numbered in China

Globe and Mail

Asia-Pacific

Sept. 4, 2006

 

Beijing's latest crackdown focuses on doggie dissidents -- pooches who are

breaking the law by simply being too big, writes GEOFFREY YORK

 

With a report from Jonathan Chang

 

The police swooped down on a southern suburb of Beijing and seized a gang of

law-breaking culprits. The chief suspects: an English sheepdog, a Siberian

husky and a Labrador retriever. Their crime? Exceeding the 35-centimetre

height limit for dogs in the city.

 

The raid was the latest in a police crackdown on Beijing's dog population, a

campaign that has raised fears of another mass extermination of the beloved

pets of China's emerging middle classes.

 

Earlier this summer, authorities slaughtered 55,000 dogs in Yunnan province

in southwestern China, citing danger of rabies. In Beijing, however, the

roundup of dogs is provoking fierce resistance from pet owners. They are

organizing protests and vigils, putting up posters, wearing red ribbons,

pasting bumper stickers on their cars, writing letters to government

officials and filling the Internet with their impassioned attacks on the

crackdown.

 

With their growing awareness of animal rights and property rights, Beijing's

dog owners are willing to fight for the survival of their pets. The great

question is whether this rising awareness will evolve into a concern for

human rights -- a shift that could transform China's future.

 

In Beijing yesterday, two dozen pet owners gathered outside the central

television headquarters to hold a vigil for the slaughtered dogs of Yunnan

and other provinces. They lit candles, tossed petals into a canal and

created a flower wreath in the shape of a heart.

 

They were vehemently opposed to the crackdown on large dogs. " People are

raising dogs because of China's one-child policy, " one woman said at the

vigil.

 

" Many people are lonely. Their children are busy working and don't have time

to spend with their parents. And dogs are the most intimate pet for people

to have. "

 

On Saturday, a similar group of about 25 pet owners held a small protest at

a Beijing park. They tied red ribbons around their legs, 35 centimetres

above their feet, to symbolize the restrictions on large dogs.The group is

planning more protests next week.

 

" I want my dog to live, " said one protester, a woman named Wang. " He didn't

do anything wrong. Just because he's tall, he has to die. I can't let my

baby be killed just because he is tall. Every animal has a right to live. "

 

Some people have heard rumours that every dog taller than 35 centimetres

will be exterminated before the Beijing Olympics in 2008. " Suddenly, in one

night, we have become criminals, " Ms. Wang said.

 

Chinese websites have been flooded with messages from pet owners who oppose

the new limits. " We've grown up with the Communist Party, through a lifetime

of trials and tribulations, we answered the party's call to go to the

countryside to work, and we raised a dog that followed us throughout those

difficult times, " wrote an elderly couple who own an illegal dog. " Why do

the police have to kill him? Suddenly he has become guilty of some

unpardonable evil, like a thug. . . . If our dog dies, we will die. "

 

The government insists that any dogs confiscated in Beijing will be fed and

vaccinated at a government-funded dog pound. But animal-rights activists say

the authorities often allow dogs to die of starvation after they are seized.

 

A veterinarian, Zi Jin, is trying to rescue large dogs from being

confiscated or killed. He is hiding one dog at his clinic at the moment and

has rescued many more in the past. " We don't want to oppose the government, "

he said. " We just want to help animals and give them a good environment to

live in. "

 

This year is the Year of the Dog, according to the Chinese zodiac, but a

rabies scare has left many citizens terrified of the animals. " The sight of

a large, unleashed wolfdog caused panic on the streets of Beijing last

Friday night, " said an article last week in China Daily, a state-owned

newspaper. " Pedestrians dodged left and right. Minutes later, the police

took away the dog. "

 

Until a few years ago, dogs were virtually outlawed in China, because of the

cost of licences. But the fees were reduced and now there are about 150

million dogs, including about 550,000 officially registered in Beijing. (The

actual number, including unregistered ones, is believed to be three times

higher.)

 

The soaring dog population has brought an increase in rabies. In the first

half of this year, more than 1,100 people died of rabies, making it the

second-deadliest infectious disease in the country.

 

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