No big Olympic wins for animals--but some quiet gains

[Guest guest]

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2008:

 

 

No big Olympic wins for animals

--but some quiet gains

 

BEIJING--Political stress over Tibet and controversies

arising from the aftermath of the May 12, 2008 Sichuan earthquake

appear to have deferred expectations that China would introduce a

national humane law as a goodwill gesture just ahead of the 2008

Olympic Games in Beijing.

The anticipated introduction, all but promised by state

media for several years, did not happen. Instead, as the 2008

Olympics approached, speculation about the possible content of a

national humane law and reportage about controversial animal issues

nearly vanished from state media--except for warnings that Beijing

restaurants should not serve dog meat during August and September,

while visitors filled the city to attend the Olympics and the

Paralympics for handicapped athletes, to be held afterward.

But the Beijing Pet Dog Management Office. a branch of the

police department, in mid-July summoned Animal Rescue Beijing

founder Wu Tianyu and China Small Animal Protection Association

founder Lu Di " to discuss the situation of pet dog control in

Beijing, " Animal Rescue Beijing volunteer Irene Zhang told ANIMAL

PEOPLE.

Joining the delegation, Zhang described a positive

atmosphere and outcome. " The police promised that if there are any

complaints about a dog, " Zhang e-mailed to ANIMAL PEOPLE, " they

would not take the dog away, but would pursuade the pet owner to

take care of the dog according to the law, such as keeping a big dog

out of the downtown, or registering a small dog. If elderly people

have a big dog as a companion, they will not take any action.

" Animal Rescue Beijing asked the police to propose to the

government to strictly control professional dog breeders, " Zhang

continued, " with no new registration of dog breeders and no

cross-breeding permitted; to close the local roadside dog meat

markets in Liyuan Tongzhou, Gaoliying Shunyi, Daxing and Changping,

to maintain food safety and prevent rabies; to control roaming pet

dogs in the suburban and countryside areas; to ban private dog

breeding with a heavy fine; and to punish the dog owner instead of

the dog if there are any complaints against a pet dog.

" The police agreed with our opinion, " Zhang wrote, " and

said that they would work with other government agencies to take

these actions. "

The Beijing Catering Trade Associ-ation distributed the

initial " strong advisory " to restaurants against serving dog meat,

reported Xinhua News Agency editor Bi Mingxin.

Beijing Tourism Bureau vice director Xiong Yumei several days

later issued recommendations to restaurant staff about how to firmly

but politely dissuade thrill-seeking foreign visitors who might ask

for dog meat.

The Beijing Food Safety Adminis-tration followed up by

formally prohibiting 112 officially designated Olympic restaurants

from selling dog meat during the Olympics.

" Non-designated restaurants, especially those serving

Korean, Yunnan, and Guizhou cuisine, have also been encouraged not

to serve dog meat, " reported China Daily staff writer Wang

Zhuoqiong. " All meat transported into Beijing during the Olympics

will be checked to prevent violations, the notice said. " The dog

meat ban was presented " as a mark of respect for foreigners and

people from ethnic groups, " Wang Zhuoqiong continued.

Beijing restauranteurs questioned by various reporters mostly

said they had never served dog meat in the first place. Dogs are

often eaten in parts of southern and coastal China, but barely 100

of the more than 14,000 restaurants in Beijing have been found to

serve dog meat in more than 15 years of surveys.

Western reporting teams sent to the Olympics typically

consisted of one or two sportswriters plus a " lifestyles " reporter,

much to the annoyance of reporters from other beats who had hoped to

get the coveted assignment.

" Let's be honest. We came to China for the food, in all its

bizarre, exotic glory. " wrote Garry Linnell of the Victoria

(Australia) Herald Sun. " Scorpion kebab? Roast dog leg? Deep fried

worm? Welcome to Guolizhuang, a Beijing restaurant specialising in

animal penises and testicles. " Linnell's reportage, and similar

from others who tended to visit the same places, played into

expectations whetted by warnings from western animal advocacy groups.

Humane Society of the U.S. policy director Teresa Telecky,

for example, cautioned Olympic visitors that " Although it is legal

to sell ivory in China, it is illegal to bring ivory back to the

U.S. Don't buy items made of or trimmed in fur or leather. Wild

animals as well as dogs and cats are killed for their fur in China.

The methods of killing them include skinning them alive. " Telecky

mentioned seeing " cat trinkets covered in real cat fur " in China,

which have appeared in U.S. stores as well, imported from China and

several other parts of the world.

" Don't order shark fin soup, " Telecky continued. " Sharks

are in decline worldwide, largely because of the demand for their

fins. Shark fins are cut off and the sharks are thrown overboard to

die. Be mindful of what else you eat. Massive numbers of snakes,

turtles and small mammals are captured in other Asian countries [and

in the U.S., in the case of turtles] and transported alive under

cruel conditions to China, decimating wild populations. Bird's nest

soup, another delicacy, is made of swiftlet nests. Removing the

nests deprives birds of places to breed.

" Be careful about pharmacy purchases, " Telecky finished.

" Traditional Chinese medicines may contain parts of endangered

animals, which are believed to have potent healing properties.

Demand for these products has pushed rhinos and tigers to the edge of

extinction. In China, endangered Asiatic black bears are trapped

and kept in small cages so their bile can be extracted. "

" I don't think people need to be worried too much about

consuming tiger, bear or other endangered species parts, whether in

traditional Chinese medicine or restaurants, " responded Animals Asia

Foundation founder Jill Robinson, whose China Bear Rescue Project

has freed more than 250 bears from bile farms and has won hugely

favorable publicity both in China and worldwide, inspiring a

parallel project in Vietnam.

" They would be paying significantly more for these [wildlife

products], having had to ask for them, being aware that this is

what they are consuming. These parts are not hidden for consumers to

munch on in oblivion, " Robinson explained, " for the obvious reason

that the traders want to exploit these poor animals for a goodly

return. "

Robinson emphasized to animal advocates who demanded an

Olympic boycott, with little visible response, that within China

" Targeting is happening. Peaceful protests in the streets in Beijing

at the Korean restaurants have grown, and in the major dog and cat

eating capitals too, " notably Guangdong, the only region where cats

are commonly eaten, and the scene of several major anti-cat eating

demonstrations within the past two years.

Robinson cited the rising popularity within China of dog

therapy, beginning with the Dr. Dog program she started 14 years ago.

" The motivation and change is coming from within China, "

Robinson said, " from those who understand the issues and arguments,

and intelligently articulate the concept of healing without harm. "

Halfway through the Olympics, the only demonstration in

support of any cause to have attracted much note was a pro-animal

press conference held on August 6 by U.S. swimmer Amanda Beard, 26,

a four-time Olympian who won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in

Athens.

Warned by eight plainclothes Chinese security officials the

previous evening against holding a scheduled press conference at her

hotel to decry the Chinese fur industry, Beard instead " unveiled a

demure nude photograph of herself urging 'Don't wear fur, " Reuters

reported, " in front of reporters and TV cameras outside the heavily

fenced Olympic athletes' village. Security guards watched the media

scrum from the south gate of the village, but did not intervene.

The German Olympic cycling team, heading out for training in hot,

muggy weather, stopped for a look. "

" Beard, who has posed nude in men's magazines, said she

decided to participate in the PETA ['I'd rather go naked than wear

fur'] campaign because she loves animals and was horrified to see how

fur was produced for fashion in some places, " added Associated Press

sportswriter John Pye. --Merritt Clifton

 

--

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

 

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