WORLD ATTITUDES TOWARDS ANIMALS

[Guest guest]

I could not bring myself to watch the video. There is no point in singling out

any one country. Attempting to condemn a whole country is counter productive

and misses the point.There are good and bad in each and no country has the moral

high ground when it comes to how we treat animals. I know an elderly Chinese

lady who refuses to eat beef because her best friend as a child was the family

buffalo and when I studied in China a number of years ago I found people who had

empathy towards animals. People are working towards trying to improve the lot

of animals in China as elsewhere. Encouraging every small positive action is

what is needed.

 

Chris Osborn

Perth Australia

 

 

 

-

Merritt Clifton

aapn

Tuesday, June 26, 2007 1:07 PM

RE: FW: What a SICK SICK World.

 

 

>We have made captures of the video and put these on several popular blogs in

>Thailand with the link to the video and a short explanation on how China is

>the most disgusting country in the world

 

This is grossly unfair. As ANIMAL PEOPLE editorially pointed

out in April 2006:

 

While China as yet has no anti-cruelty law, and is notorious

for the cruelties inflicted on animals at live markets and on fur

farms, horrified individual Chinese citizens responded remarkably

quickly during the first week in March 2006 when so-called " crush " or

" squish " videos surfaced on a Chinese web site.

 

Similar material came to light in the U.S. and Britain in

mid-1997. Investigations by British Customs, the Royal SPCA,

Animal Rights Online host Susan Roghair, AnimalTalk host Dick Weevil,

Ohio animal rights attorney Shawn Thomas, the Suffolk County SPCA,

and ANIMAL PEOPLE eventually converged, exchanged notes, and led to

the convictions of seven perpetrators between 1999 and 2002.

Elapsed time: five years, while the videos remained in distribution.

 

In China, web surfers rapidly identified the " actress " who

stomped a kitten to death as hospital nurse Wang Jue, of northern

Heilongjiang province, and posted her personal data, along with

that of the videographer. Wang Jue lost her job. The producer,

identified as Luobei Television cameraman Li Yuejun, wrote a

published apology and self-criticism.

 

The state-run China Daily took the opportunity to editorially

argue for a national cruelty law. With public opinion clearly and

vociferously opposed to cruelty, State Forestry Administration

director of wildlife and plant protection Zhou Rongsheng announced

regulations to improve the care of animals on fur farms and prohibit

live skinning.

 

Certainly much cruelty goes on in China, but China is

scarcely unique in either practicing or amplifying depraved

videography.

 

The fellow who posted the message to which I am responding,

who has an outstanding personal record on both animal and human

rights issues, happens to come from the Netherlands. He now lives

in Thailand.

 

Some Dutch citizens and residents have been integrally

involved in producing, distributing, and promoting some of the most

depraved pornography ever produced, including extreme cruelty to

both animals and human children.

 

Thailand is among the international hubs of the worst forms

of human and animal trafficking, and has a thriving albeit illegal

dog meat industry.

 

Does that make either the Netherlands or Thailand among the

most disgusting countries in the world?

 

Of course not. As a whole, both the Netherlands and

Thailand have good records on most animal and human rights

issues--but every nation seems to have a certain percentage of deeply

warped and worthless people, who exploit the most vulnerable

creatures around them.

 

Some may be better at dealing with the creeps than others,

but in general, the more peaceable and decently inclined the

majority of people are, the more the worst people can get away with

before being called to account.

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

[ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing

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