Chinese president Hu Jintao halts canine confiscations

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From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2007:

 

 

Chinese president Hu Jintao halts canine confiscations

 

BEIJING--Chinese President Hu Jintao in late November 2006

personally " intervened to end a national crackdown on dogs, "

reported Jane Cai of the South China Morning Post, who made the

action known to the world on December 13.

" One petitioner said Mr. Hu's chief secretary told her that

the president had read her two petitions, signed by more than 60,000

people, calling for an end to the campaign, " Cai wrote. " She said

Mr. Hu was unhappy about the complaints and international media

coverage of the campaign, and had put a stop to the program late

last month, " about four weeks after it started. " A government

official confirmed Mr Hu had ordered a halt after reading the

letters, " Cai continued.

Hu's order most directly affected a round-up of unlicensed

and large dogs underway in Beijing since the end of October, but

followed almost a year of global petitioning and e-mailing in

response to dog massacres undertaken earlier in response to rabies

outbreaks in the southern and coastal regions of China--mostly in the

areas where dogs are often eaten.

Word of Hu's intervention trickled out after the Beijing

Public Security Bureau " took several dozen Chinese and foreign

journalists to inspect a dog pound on the outskirts of the city

where some 600 abandoned, oversized, and confiscated dogs are

housed, " reported Alexa Olesen of Associated Press. " The tour was

an apparent attempt to ease public anger over the campaign, "

observed Olesen.

Animals Asia Foundation founder Jill Robinson and Grace

Gabriel, Asia director for the International Fund for Animal

Welfare, acknowledged on December 20 that the dog confiscations had

officially stopped.

Gabriel said IFAW learned that the confiscations were

suspended from the Beijing Police Department on December 7.

" Four days later, " Gabriel added, " on December 11th,

animal welfare groups and the international and local media were

invited to tour the police pound. Although IFAW has obtained

pictures of impounded animals in the past, access has been

restricted for the past eight years, " Gabriel alleged,

contradicting reports ANIMAL PEOPLE has received from the Beijing

Small Animal Protection Association, which started a volunteer

program at the pound in October 2003, and has sent several photos of

volunteers grooming dogs.

" It was apparent that the pound had recently been renovated, "

Gabriel said. " The facility was barren, but comparable to shelters

elsewhere. Many dogs wore collars and tags, indicating that they

had been owned.

" IFAW urged the police to return the owned dogs to their

rightful homes, " Gabriel said. " We fully accept they would want to

impose conditions on registration and vaccination, and that those

who don't comply with spaying and neutering may be fined. However,

the return of many of these dogs is not possible under the current

regulations because they represent breeds banned by the Beijing Dog

Regulation, or because they exceed the size limit [of 35 millimeters

in height] set by the authorities. "

Robinson agreed that the Beijing pound was " of acceptable

standards. However, obviously this is not an acceptable solution

following such a reactive confiscation, " Robinson said, " and we

continue to ask for an amnesty in order that these dogs are returned

to their owners, to be muzzled in public areas, with humane muzzles

we are donating, whilst new regulations are implemented. The

regulations as they stand are seriously flawed by limiting the size

of dogs rather than the breed, " although some large breeds are

completely prohibited, " and this too needs to be addressed, "

Robinson said.

To Lindsay Beck of Reuters, Robinson added, " The

regulations have been in place since 2003, and the government has to

take some responsibility for the fact that they've been ignored.

There are pet shops and pet markets everywhere selling large dogs,

and no one has cracked down [before], " Robinson claimed.

 

Vaccination

 

The Beijing dog law enforcement drive began after more

than six months of dog massacres amid rabies panics in the regions

afflicted with rabies. So-called " meat dogs " are not vaccinated,

and relatively few pets are vaccinated outside of Beijing, which

claims a vaccination compliance rate of about 50%. But killing as

many as 50,000 dogs in the vicinity of some rabies outbreaks has not

stopped the spread of the disease.

Reports that up to 17% of vaccinated dogs in China may still

be susceptible to rabies have caused officials to re-examine the

manufacture and sale of fake and ineffective vaccines, a recurring

problem. Police in 2005 found 40,000 boxes of fake rabies vaccine in

Guangdong, for example, after two boys died of rabies despite

receiving prompt post-exposure inoculations.

The State Food & Drug Administ-ration on December 14, 2006

announced a renewed effort to stop the makers and distributors of

fake vaccines.

" The official Xinhua news agency said that sub-standard

rabies vaccines had been responsible for several deaths recently. It

did not elaborate, " summarized Reuters.

The Ministry of Health announced earlier that " Rabies killed

more people in China than any other infectious disease for the 6th

consecutive month in November 2006, " Reuters said. " There were 270

deaths caused by rabies in November 2006, out of 743 deaths due to

infectious disease on the Chinese mainland, according to the Ministry

of Health. In all, 354 people were reportedly bitten by rabid

animals, the Ministry said. "

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

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Fax: 360-579-2575

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Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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