(CN) You Will Have To Die For Killing The Puppy!

[Guest guest]

Roland Soong on the EastSouthWestNorth blog has translated an article from the

Southern Metropolis Daily [

http://www.nanfangdaily.com.cn/southnews/jwxy/200704280316.asp ] about the

burning to death of a puppy behind an apartment building in Huoyanyuan, Nanjing,

last week.

 

The murder of the puppy, and attempted murder of its mother and sibling, has

resulted in anger between neighbours and debate on internet forums about animal

rights vs human rights.

 

Personal details of one person involved in the act, including real name and work

address, have been posted on the internet.

 

There are photos of the place where the dogs stayed, the apartment entrance of

the family which burned the puppy to death, and someone holding the corpse of

the dead puppy in front of the woman who did it.

....................

 

" You Will Have To Die For Killing The Puppy! "

 

(Southern Metropolis Daily) " You burned that dog to death and therefore I want

you 'dead'! " By Wang Feng). April 28, 2007.

 

[in translation]

 

.... According to <Modern Express Daily>, on April 24, several men and women in

the Xiaguan Huoyanyuan district of Nanjing brought Sprite bottles filled with

gasoline and proceeded to the small garden behind building number eleven where

one female dog and her two puppies made their home. They poured gasoline on the

dogs and set them on fire with a lighter. According to one man: " The dogs

yelped in the middle of night and disturbed the sleeping humans. The problem can

be solved by killing them. "

 

During the process, one young male passerby rip opened a sealed exit and then

the female dog which was on fire took out a puppy with her mouth. She got out

and put out the fire on herself and that puppy. But she did not have time to

save the other puppy because the man who set the fire re-sealed the hole. When

the female dog went to bite the man, he hit her heavily. The female dog then

sped off to Building Number Ten.

 

One hour later, the reporter arrived at the scene in a hurry. The surviving

puppy had crawled back into its lair. On the side, the dead puppy was curled

up. It was blackened, but its eyes appeared to be still opened.

 

" That is the building. The female dog is waiting motionless in front of his

apartment door. She is staring at the stairwell. She recognizes people. That

man is hiding inside his apartment. " Mrs. Wang told the reporter in a low

voice.

 

During this past winter, the stray dog arrived at Huoyanyuan and made a new home

in a small hole in the garden behind Building Eleven.

 

According to people, this dog was very compliant with people who live there.

But when she saw strangers, she barked loudly. Mrs. Zhang in Building Eleven

was particularly pleased: " Ever since this dog came, there were no thieves. She

was our dutiful watchdog. "

 

But other residents thought that the dog seriously interfered with their sleep.

One netizen posted <Human rights and canine rights -- before and after the

dog-burning incident> and said that she was 75-years-old and living in Building

Ten: " This dog had no master. She ate and defecated anywhere without anyone to

clean up after her. Worse yet, she started barking as soon as she saw a

stranger, day or night. For a long time, I had not been able to get a decent

sleep even after doubling the dosage of my sleeping medication. "

 

" Afterwards I asked Xiao Qi. Why did you have to set them on fire? Xiao Qi

said: They had discussed with the owners before. Some of them did not want to

evict the dogs because they serve a watchdog function, and they also gave a

chance for charitable persons to express their kindheartedness. There were some

disagreements and a fight almost broke out. We got very angry and we went too

far. "

 

After the news story broke on April 26, many netizens were infuriated. By the

hundreds, they showed up at the forums to call for respect for life, to

establish laws to protect animals, to condemn the " murderers " ...

 

The burned dog and her surviving puppy were taken by animal rights protectors to

the animal hospitals for medical care. Many residents and netizens have

established an open-air altar to commemorate the dead puppy, together with

wreaths made from fresh flowers.

 

The incident has not ended. Someone published the real identity, work address,

home address, office number and personal mobile telephone number of the person

who set the dogs on fire. Many people waited outside the office of the

perpetrator and harass her when she came out. They published photographs and

videos of her on the Internet. The office of the perpetrator has received many

protest telephone calls. Many people have signed letters to the mayor of

Nanjing to put pressure on the perpetrator and her work office. Many people

have issued death threats against this " murderer. " Some other people have gone

even further by painting the word " death " on the wall outside the apartment of

the perpetrator. These photographs are broadly circulated on the Internet.

 

When some netizens saw these photographs, they wondered if the incident has gone

in the other direction: " When mine owners want to cover up a mining disaster or

when government officials ignore human life, you people don't seem to be as

excited. How come you become so when dogs are set on fire? "

 

" You people are a mob. You paint the doors, you publish the address and

telephone number. Who gave you such rights? " A Tianya netizen said: " You think

about your violent actions calmly. You are not so different from the attitudes

of the people who set the dogs on fire. "

 

But these doubts were quickly buried by the endless number of bloodthirsty

comments.

 

The perpetrator has called the police and wants to get police protection.

 

http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20070428_1.htm

...............

From the China in Transition blog:

 

Thursday, April 26, 2007

 

Dog Rights VS Human Rights

 

An incident of burning dogs in the city of Nanjing drew nearly 17000 comments

from web users on Thursday and triggered a huge debate about dog rights.

 

The behavior under fire took place on Wednesday, when a couple of people poured

gasoline on two puppies and their mother and set their cave on fire. The dogs

were homeless and had stayed for a few months in a corner of a garden in these

people's housing compound. One of them said the dogs' bark disturbed people's

sleep, local newspaper reported.

 

A witness tried to stop the fire, but one puppy was killed. Residents later

called police. Messages on online forums said the surviving dogs were taken care

of.

 

Condemnation of the burning dominated online comments on this incident. People

called the act cruel, utterly inhuman or barbarous. Some say those who set the

fire could have gone to jail if they were in some other countries.

 

" You could not like dogs, you could even hate them, but you have no right to

take their lives because of your discomfort, " one comment read.

 

Not long after the debate broke out, a post appeared on tianya club forum

written in the name of an old lady, who claimed that the dogs' barking had

forced her to increase the dose of her sleeping drugs but still kept her awake

at night. The poster admitted that it was her neighbors who tried to burn the

dogs to help her and that she was sorry about their behavior.

 

" It is a good thing that people have more awareness of animal protection and

animals now have higher status, " the poster wrote. " However, please consider

here: animals have their rights, but shouldn't people also have their rights as

human? When human rights were hurt by animals, whose rights deserve protection

more? "

 

Nevertheless, other web users questioned the true identity of the poster and

still could not forgive the burning.

 

" If [you] think the dogs are disturbing, [you] could contact people at animal

protection center to take care of them, or find someone to adopt them. Why use

such cruel method to burn them? " One post responded.

 

There are also a handful of comments that do not take the burning as such a big

deal and insist that China needs to focus on problems of people instead of dogs

and cats.

 

" Those who think about dog rights, have you thought about human rights? " One

commentator asked, and listed a series of threats homeless animals could bring

to human, including carrying disease, barking at children and dropping excrement

everywhere.

 

A harsh debate for animal rights like this was unimaginable in China just a

couple of decades ago, when most Chinese people were largely concerned of their

own livelihood. Material shortage and relatively poor living conditions left

people with little heart to care about how animals around them were doing.

 

Recent years have seen more and more Chinese people, mostly affluent urban

residents, keep pets like dogs and cats. Animal hospital and shelter have been

set up in many places, although such resources are still far from abundant.

Schools also carried out the so-called " love education, " instructing children to

love small animals and respect lives.

 

Local news report on the incident

http://news.163.com/07/0426/04/3CVRPPTV00011229.html

 

Online comments

http://www.tianya.cn/publicforum/Content/free/1/897547.shtml

http://www.tianya.cn/publicforum/Content/free/1/897516.shtml

 

http://josieliu.blogspot.com/2007/04/dog-rights-vs-human-rights.html