COULD ANYONE HELP? Cats are out as Beijing starts to preen

[Guest guest]

The two women in Beijing work so hard to save cats in their neighborhood....this

is really very sad.

 

Rosa

-

 

Planeta Animal<planetanimal

Cc:

Monday, February 25, 2008 10:41 PM

Re: Cats are out as Beijing starts to preen

 

 

Hi Rosa,

 

Just knew this news from your forwarding, it is so terrible, as my living place

is too nearby Olympic Stadium the Nestle.

 

I haven't been heard further news so far, but I need quick to find foster homes

for the outside neutered cats with sweet personalities, who is easierly to

catch.

 

My heart is suffering,,

 

 

Scarlett

 

 

On 2/26/08, Planeta Animal <planetanimal<planetanimal>

wrote:

Hi Dan & Scarlett,

 

Do you know anything about this news? This is very worrisome.

 

Rosa

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

 

 

 

 

 

February 25, 2008

 

Cats are out as Beijing starts to preen itself

Jane Macartney in Beijing

Animal welfare activists in Beijing are up in arms over a decision by the

city government to clear the capital of its stray cats as part of a sweeping

Olympic facelift.

No one knows exactly how many homeless cats roam the city's streets and

alleys but the Capital Animal Welfare Assocation says 160,000 to 200,000 animals

at the very minimum are at risk from the new campaign.

Strays are already being caught and transported to a holding pen in the

suburban county of Changping. Animal welfare activists described seeing the cats

crowded together in cages the size of a microwave oven. They estimated almost 90

per cent of the animals were clearly diseased and many had been neutered with

rudimentary surgery that had led to infections. The order states that strays

still unclaimed after 14 days will be " dealt with " .

Qin Xiaona, head of the animal welfare association, told The Times: " This is

nothing less than torture. And the situation is much worse than this for dogs. "

 

The drive was announced by the city's agricultural bureau director at a

recent meeting of the municipal parliament. He ordered that all stray cats must

be caught and taken off the streets before the end of June to ensure the city

looks its best for the two-week-long Olympic games starting on August 8.

Mrs Qin said: " The officials said they did not want the Olympic athletes to

see a single stray animal. This is partly because the Chinese care so much about

face. "

Orders have already been sent out to the neighbourhood committees that are

responsible for maintaining order and implementing government directives

throughout the 18 districts of Beijing. Mrs Qin described seeing committee

officials holding meetings in the Eastern District in the city centre and

calling on residents to round up stray cats.

She said: " Cats are beneficial to the community in a city like Beijing

because they catch rats. If people catch all the stray cats then can you imagine

how terrible the problem of rats could become? " This newest campaign to empty

the city streets of roaming animals does not include stray dogs since these have

been banned in Beijing for many years and are regularly cleared out by the

police.

The animal welfare activists said it would be extremely difficult to rid

Beijing of the cats that live wild in the many nooks and crannies of the ancient

alleys that criss-cross the old centre of the capital. But this is not the first

time that the capital has declared war on an animal.

In the 1950s, Mao Zedong launched the " Four Pests " campaign when citizens

were ordered to kill flies, mosquitoes, rats and sparrows. The mass slaughter of

sparrows had unintended consequences, resulting in an explosion of the locust

population.

Mrs Qin said her group had offered to work with the government in case of

any campaign to ensure the city's cats were handled in a humane manner, but

their proposals had been ignored.

" I have a question for the International Olympic Committee and the athletes:

Do they feel that they can take part comfortably in the Olympics if the price of

the games is the lives of so many animals? "

She also had fighting words for the organisers. " We Beijing residents are

ready to go without electricity, without water, without cars if the Games can be

a success. But we are opposed to an Olympics that will cost the lives of

animals. We feel this is tragic. "

 

 

Mary Alice Pollard

Cornwall's Voice for Animals.UK

Member: (OIPA) International Organisation for Animal Protection.

NGO affiliated to the UN Department of Public Information

http://www.cornwallsvoiceforanimals.org/Welcome.html<http://www.cornwallsvoicefo\

ranimals.org/Welcome.html>

http://www.myspace.com/cvfa<http://www.myspace.com/cvfa>

 

Helping Animal Shelters - World Wide !

The * Music United for Animals * Project:

http://www.myspace.com/musicunitedforanimals<http://www.myspace.com/musicunitedf\

oranimals>

 

Just Nice Photos by Mary Alice

http://www.justnicephotos.com<http://www.justnicephotos.com/>

http://www.myspace.com/justnicephotos<http://www.myspace.com/justnicephotos>

 

" Of all the creatures, man is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he's

the one that possesses malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for

sport, knowing it to be pain. The fact that man knows right from wrong proves

his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do

wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot. "

- Mark Twain -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<http://promos.hotbar.com/promos/promodll.dll?RunPromo & El= & SG= & RAND=77737 & partne\

r=spamblockerutility>