Dog Day Afternoon

[Guest guest]

Roland Soong posted on his blog EastSouthNorthWest about the coverage of the

Beijing demonstration - AP and China Times reports, and the Wenxue City news

site.

 

There are photos from Reuters and the Wenxue City site (

http://news.wenxuecity.com/BBSView.php?SubID=news & MsgID=330812 ) on the page.

================================

 

Dog Day Afternoon

 

(Associated Press)

 

Demonstrators angry over a crackdown on dogs staged a noisy protest in China's

capital yesterday, demanding a stop to mass killings to control pet populations.

 

About 200 police kept watch and strung up tape to cordon off the roughly 500

demonstrators, as they held up stuffed animals, waved signs and chanted " Down

with Dog-raising Restrictions " near the entrance to the Beijing Zoo. Many wore

buttons that said " Respect Life, Oppose Indiscriminate Killing. "

 

....

 

Though the demonstration was largely peaceful, anti-riot squads in helmets and

dark uniforms were dispatched, and protesters gave differing accounts as to

whether any demonstrators had been taken away. Police used loudspeakers to urge

protesters to take their complaints to a special desk set up inside the zoo.

Nine representatives of the protesters were taken inside the zoo to discuss the

protest with police, protesters said.

 

(South China Morning Post) Crackdown infuriates dog owners. By Jane Cai.

 

About 500 dog owners staged a protest in Beijing yesterday against the seizure

and killing of pets in a crackdown sparked by rabies fears.

 

The demonstrators, monitored by about 200 police officers, gathered outside

Beijing Zoo waving signs and chanting slogans such as: " Down with dog-raising

restrictions " and " Love our dogs, love others for a harmonious society " .

 

The protest, organised through internet chat rooms, was to start at 11am, but

many angry dog owners arrived two hours earlier.

 

In an effort to disperse the crowd, the police seized several placards and

detained 15 protesters, allegedly beating some of them. This further infuriated

the crowd, which responded with shouts of " Release the people! " , attracting

passers-by to join the protest.

 

Although the demonstration was largely peaceful, anti-riot squads were sent to

maintain order and plainclothes police milled through the crowd.

 

Tearful demonstrators told how their dogs had been seized by police in recent

weeks, despite being registered and vaccinated. Last week, the Beijing municipal

government issued a circular banning dogs taller than 35cm from nine districts

and limiting ownership to one dog per family.

 

Bigger, unlicensed and extra dogs will be confiscated, either to be put down or

sent to fostering centres. It also empowered police to go into homes to check

and seize dogs, and residential committees to report irregularities.

 

" Is the 35cm limit reasonable? Guangzhou allows 40cm. Who can tell me why dogs

higher than 35cm are banned in Beijing? Do we have to be stricter because of the

Olympics? " protester Wang Yan said.

 

Fellow protester Jiang Ran said: " I've been jittery since the government

announcement was made. Whenever I hear a knock at the door, I rush to hide my

dog under the bed. I have two dogs. I don't want to give either of them away. "

 

The protesters said they were not against government's decision to better

regulate dogs, but the approach adopted by the Beijing government was wrong.

 

" Why can't I raise more than one dog, while the nation raises stupid or corrupt

officials? Why can they go to our homes to take away our property? " a man

shouted. The crowd yelled: " Down with corrupt officials! "

 

Zhang Luping, a Beijing-based animal rights activist, said her animal protection

website www.ani8.com was shut yesterday. Police told her the closure was due to

her " leaking state secrets " .

 

(China Times)

 

[in translation]

 

The protest action was supposed to originally scheduled to start at 11am. But

the police were already assembled awaiting orders before 11am. When the first

protestors arrived and milled around, the police used man-on-man coverage.

After several protestors got on the short wall protecting the trees to chant

slogans, the police began to take action.

 

ETTV reporter Lu Bingnong was filming with a small hand-held videocamera, and he

was 'invited' to go into the zoo police station where he was interrogated in a

small room. He was asked to provide identification. He took out this Taiwan

identify card and his reporter's card. The police was going to confiscate them,

but he protested and got to keep them. The videotape was removed from his

camera and then he was permitted to leave with the camera. Three local Beijing

reporters were arrested. One of them threw a chair inside the police station.

 

http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20061112_2.htm