KILLING & TORTURING OF CATS & DOGS IN CHINA

[Stephanie Durecko]

China's dogs & cats are boiled, stabbed, drowned, bludgeoned, strangled, poisoned, hanged, and electrocuted...experiencing unbearable pain as their legs are routinely broken while trussed up and hung in local markets for human consumption, or skinned alive and cast off like garbage, for the despicable fur trade.

Dogs [both owned and stray] are relentlessly hunted down by 'police authorized' roving mobs and savagely beaten to death by the hundreds of thousands, in the name of 'rabies' control

If you thought you seen it all and you can stomach it:
http://www.video.aol.com/video-detail/cat-and-dog-massacre-in-china...

[Dette]

Regulating the trade would also provide only a superficial solution and give dog and cat eating a façade of respectability, whilst allowing the suffering to continue behind closed doors. Does anyone seriously believe that even if “humane” slaughter laws or regulations were introduced in China that they would urgently be implemented or enforced? According to a local veterinary surgeon in Beijing, this is a country where, despite endeavours towards advancing veterinary science, the actual knowledge and standards overall are at least 30 years behind the West.

DOGS, CATS AND LIVESTOCK
Arguments that a dog is no different to a chicken, a cow or even a frog, fail to address the core fact that no government in any country has devised a way of killing dogs humanely for commercial purposes. In fact, a Hong Kong Government Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Veterinary representative has
stated that dogs cannot be humanely raised and slaughtered for food. We certainly don't want to imply that livestock animals don't suffer - they do - but, as carnivores, dogs and cats are inherently different in temperament and physiology to domestic livestock species more commonly raised intensively for food. Humans have historically never kept carnivores as livestock animals, partly because of the
difficulty in raising them and perhaps also because of the increased risk of disease. Dogs are pack animals and hierarchy is important: in the markets, crammed into cages, the competition for food, females in season, and the
stress of seeing other dogs slaughtered in front of them, leads to aggression and fighting. Equipped with efficient canine teeth - carnivore attacking carnivore - they are seen tearing into each other, inflicting horrific wounds, when small amounts of food are tossed in by the traders in order to keep them barely alive. In addition, disease is rife in the markets and many of the dogs and cats show clear, clinical signs of sickness.
Whilst it is difficult to avoid double standards by deeming one animal a companion and another a 'food' animal (suffering cannot be excused with the argument that an animal has been purposely bred for food), change begins with just a few individual animals spreading compassion and hope for all species. We have to make a start somewhere and dogs and cats are ideal ambassadors through which to spread an underlying message of respect for all animals. If one can feel compassion for an individual animal, then hopefully this compassion will expand to include an entire species and eventually lend itself to the better treatment of all animals.

[Dette]

OUR VISION… AND MORE SOLUTIONS
We believe, that things will never change unless people in China want to look at this problem from their hearts and conscience - and this cannot be achieved with finger pointing from the West. Hope springs from within....
for change to come from people inside China who see dogs and cats through the same eyes as animal lovers across the world, from people who have always had an inherent love for these species, but have never been confident enough before to speak out.
Today, the tide is turning and more and more animal lovers are finding their voice and joining the call for practices previously passed off as culture to change. Some years ago, the Animals Asia team rescued a little yellow dog that was seconds from slaughter in a live animal market in Guangzhou. We brought him back to Hong Kong, enrolled him into our Dr. Dog programme and then produced a film about his life: “Dr. Eddie: Friend….or Food? The film sees Eddie tell the story of his journey from 'meat dog' to 'doctor dog' from his perspective....flashing back to the ghastly market where he escaped with his life, and now utterly enchanting everyone he meets - and ending with the plea "We want to help you, will you help us?"
The film is available in 3 languages (Mandarin, Cantonese and English) and we have enlisted the help of Chinese dog-loving celebrities (including Chinese Superstar Richie Jen Xian Qi who gives Eddie his human voice!) who
say they are appalled and ashamed of dog eating, Traditional Chinese doctors (debunking the myth that dog meat has healthy or healing qualities), Chinese chefs who say they would never cook dog, as well as Chinese nurses and doctors in hospitals, who express their disgust at dog eating and instead praise the qualities of thedoctor dogs.
We have focused on distributing the film to pet clubs (which are mushrooming across China), and welfare groups, in fact anyone who will be encouraged to join our "voice" for dogs and cats and speak out against their slaughter
- whether for food or for fur. The “Dr. Eddie Video Education Pack” includes a VCD, a “Friends or Food?” leaflet explaining reasons for our love and respect for companion animals and why we believe that dogs and cats should
not be food, our current Dr. Dog leaflet and a basic pet care leaflet. Distribution kicked off with 1,000 copies of the film being given away during a pet carnival in Shenzhen on Christmas Day 2004, where the theme the local animal welfare group promoted was: “ Is a Dog a Friend for Life, or Just a Tasty Dish?” In 2005, an amazing 41,000 copies of the film were snapped up by animal lovers across China. A further 47,000 VCDs of the film are being given away in the March 2006 issue of influential pet magazine Pet Life, which circulates across China. Meanwhile life-size boards of megastar Richie Jen posing with Eddie, promoting the message that “Dogs and Cats are our friends and helpers” are being distributed to Vet Clinics and Supermarkets in Guangzhou and Chengdu!
Encouraged by this, we've now agreed to fund local groups in China with their
own public education programmes so that they can hold exhibits and pass out
flyers and leaflets, encouraging the general public to be more compassionate
to companion animals and to encourage more interest from their local media
for stories to circulate more widely across the country.
Just last month (January 2006) we helped Jia Meng and members of the Chinese
Companion Animals Protection Network as they organised and coordinated an
event in Guangzhou entitled “Stopping Eating Cats and Dogs” which was the
first time that local citizens spoke so broadly on this issue. It was later reported
as a cover story in the Guangzhou newspaper Nan Fang Du shi Bao (Southern
Capital News), with a circulation of 1,560,000!
On March 25, 2006, also in Guangzhou (remember, the dog-eating capital of the country), we're holding the largest symposium of its kind ever held in China.
With over 25 local animal welfare groups across the country attending, we'll be
encouraging everyone present to raise their voices even louder for dogs and
cats this year - the Chinese Year of the Dog. Government officials will be invited
to attend, together with spokespersons from China and abroad, in a conference which will end with various voted resolutions to pass on to the media and high level Government departments - two of which will naturally call for the end of dog and cat consumption and the trade in their fur.
Ten or fifteen years ago, all this would have been an impossible task, but today in China, so much is different. People tend to think, "but China is such huge country - the culture is so engrained, what can you do?" Yes, China
is a massive country, and perhaps one cannot change the mind of a die-hard older villager who has eaten dog his entire life, but with the youth, who are aspiring to be different, we have a real window of opportunity.

China is changing so fast, the Olympics is round the corner, modernisation escalating at breathtaking speed, and a new awareness of animals - and their welfare - connecting with a new generation of informed and passionate
people. Besides the local animal lovers, the media are also playing an important and fundamental role in the change of people's attitudes and again it reflects upon the way we show solutions to the media that helps us to
drive our message home of respect for all animals. Although it's early days, we believe that our “Friends….or Food” campaign can work - and, more importantly, people within China believe it can too.
There has never been a better opportunity of reaching out - extending the message so that attitudes can change and gradually a new consensus on the goodness of dogs and cats as our friends and helpers - and not food
- can emerge and prevail. In short, and in the words of Gandhi, animal lovers in China are being the change they want to see in the world.

[Linda]

The horrors of Maoshan – Part 1
Monday, February 4, 2008, 07:34 PM
Recently, I visited Maoshan Live Animal Market in Guangzhou with two of our China team, Christie and Rainbow. Such visits are probably the hardest part of our work at Animals Asia, but they’re also among the most important. We must keep monitoring this situation and exposing the truth about these hell-holes. These are my notes from the visit:

It’s 8am and I just don’t know how Christie and Rainbow can cope with the pain. You feel it in every fibre of your body, as you breathe the rancid, acrid smell of disease and taste the dust of death and decay. It lingers for hours after you've left one of these obscene live animal markets in China.

The place is Maoshan Market in the southern province of Guangdong and even as the taxi pulls up outside the open courtyard the screams of terrified animals makes us wince. These cries echo around each avenue of the market until we finally meet the eyes of petrified dogs and cats that are minutes or hours from death. Panting from thirst and dehydration, crying with terror, confusion and pain, their suffering is profound. Sometimes their tails wag in hopeful anticipation that the soft apologies of people recording their pain will lead to release – until their eyes fade once again into hopeless reality and they turn away.

We promise they will never die in vain. Rainbow is saying “please look at the camera; let me turn your agony into change for the animals of the future”. I can only say sorry to the eyes that turn my way – and I do out loud – and try to reassure them that their next life will be better.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of dogs are piled into tiny wire mesh cages in pyramids teetering high into the air on the backs of the trucks. Cats are stacked in cages that wobble precariously on industrial weigh-scales as their mass of body weight is calculated for the local restaurants.

One cage suddenly breaks open as it crashes from the truck to the concrete floor below and all hell breaks loose as three cats find the opening and dash out into the lane, desperately trying to flee. The traders don’t miss a thing and surround the terrified cats, herding them into a corner, before grasping them around the necks with wire tongs and smashing them onto the ground until their bodies go limp. A young ginger male twitches for a few seconds and becomes still. A black-and-white cat convulses wildly in a semi-conscious state, blood pouring from her mouth, nose and broken legs before waking more fully and trying to scramble under a truck. Her adrenalin allows her one last chance of escape. The traders let her go, anticipating perhaps that she will soon die of shock and pain and isn't worth chasing. We try to find her, but it’s an impossible task in the maze of animals and people and we pray that her agony will end soon.

Animals, both dead and alive, are squashed together, suffocating in cages the size of small suitcases – each movement of one causing others to scream in pain as broken and wounded limbs are nudged or sat upon. So many dogs are sick and suffering from the ravages of parvovirus or distemper; several wheezing last breaths, while others are now lifeless in their cages. As we continue taking pictures we hear a weak and plaintive mewing, and walk over to what we think will be a cage of mother and kittens. Instead, we nearly tread on a tiny newborn puppy, recently born of a sick or petrified mother and simply tossed away on the floor by the men.

His body is cold, but he’s breathing and, wrapping him in the fabric of an old umbrella we find on the floor, I hold him close to my body, trying to raise his temperature. Less than 30 minutes later, Rainbow finds another – a tiny newborn black-and-white female, again with umbilical cord attached, and a body temperature even lower than the first. Two tiny lives to take later to our friend John Wu the vet whom we had just said goodbye to the evening before at our annual China Companion Animal Symposium.

[Linda]

I felt so bad when I saw these cats caged...a Blog from Jill....

[Dette]

ASIANS SPEAK AGAINST KOREAN DOG AND CAT MEAT

ASIA, 14 JUNE -- Asia Link, a coalition of Asian animal welfare and conservation groups from 12 countries, is presenting a statement to the South Korean Government asking them to make a clear commitment during the FIFA World Cup to enforce and improve their legislation on animal protection. Today, the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) presented the South Korean Embassy in Singapore with the statement as well as a video, “Culture or Excuse”, which exposes the cruelty of the dog meat trade in Korea. The footage shows conditions of farming, transporting and selling dogs for meat. Representatives from other groups in countries such as Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Nepal are also submitting the Statement to their Korean embassies.

Not only is dog meat eaten but also the industry is now promoting dog meat products such as cosmetics. Dogs are bred in farms where most never leave their cages. At the markets, they are crammed into cages so they can hardly stand properly. Some are killed by electrocution. Others are hanged then beaten as they die or tortured in other ways. Cats are usually boiled, some alive, in large pressure cookers to produce a tonic that supposedly cures ailments. Others may be beaten with hammers.

Our ancestors domesticated dogs and cats as companions and we break a bond of trust when we treat them worse than livestock. Worldwide, more societies, including Korea, are considering dogs and cats as good companions. The Korean Government should take serious action to reduce, and finally ban dog and cat eating in Korea, and not merely improve the ways of slaughter.

In November last year, the FIFA President, Joseph Blatter had called upon FIFA Vice President, Dr. Chung Mong-Joon of Korea to take "immediate and decisive measures to put an immediate end to this cruelty".

Laws to prevent cruelty to dogs and cats in Korea are weak. Laws that exist are not well enforced. During the last decade, only two perpetrators of animal abuse were convicted and imposed small fines. Asia Link calls urgently for legislative and policy-related changes including:

A permanent ban on the slaughter of dogs and cats for human consumption or other economic purposes.
Korean animal protection law to be improved so that it clearly defines “animal cruelty” with regards to provision of food, housing, veterinary care, shelter, maltreatment, transportation and slaughter.
Enhanced law enforcement of existing and new laws on the dog and cat meat trade.
Higher penalties for animal cruelty.
Formation of a National Animal Welfare committee, with representation from leading Korean animal welfare groups such as Voice4animals, to advise the Government.

Asia Link is urging everyone concerned to write to the South Korean President Kim Dae-jung showing support for these recommendations at:
http://www.cwd.go.kr/cgi-bin/php/engletter/writeform.php3
or at: 1, Sejongno, Jongo-gu, Seoul, Korea 110-050

"The World Cup will finish at the end of June. But there is no end in sight for the cruelty to dogs and cats in Korea. We cannot use culture to justify violence. It is people who make “culture”, so they can change it. Dog eating was once popular in Taiwan but in 2001, the meat and fur of pets such as dogs and cats were banned from being used for economic purposes. In the Philippines, the slaughter of dogs for meat is prohibited in Metro Manila. In Thailand, opposition to it is building and just recently the “City of Dog Eating”, Sakon Nakhon, banned the sale of dog meat in its efforts to create a “good image”. As Asian societies ourselves, we are phasing out dog eating. We invite Korea to join us in this humane move,” said Asia Link representatives including Mr. Louis Ng, President of the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES).

[Stephanie Durecko]

I am very pleased with this information...I'm sure others will see that what we do really can make a difference in other peoples views and actions. It is a very uplifting column. REMEMBER....we still have lots to do.

[Dette]

Professor Changkil Park, Founder of the Seoul-based Voice4animals said, “Over the years, there has been very strong support from the Western world to stop the cruelty to Korea’s dogs and cats. But this latest collective action by the Asian community clearly shows that there is now a world-wide demand for Korea to take immediate and enduring steps to stop the extreme cruelty to the animals here.”

Local Contact

Mr. Louis Ng
Animal Concerns Research and Education Society
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Korean Contact

Professor Changkil Park
Voice4animals
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

-END-

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1.This is an independent ASIA LINK initiative. ASIA LINK was formed in 2000 to facilitate the sharing of information and resources between Asian animal welfare and conservation groups.

2. The following organisations currently form the ASIA LINK coalition:

BANGLADESH - Bangladesh Animal Welfare Organisation (BAWO)
CHINA - Educational Group for the Protection of Environment & Animals
INDONESIA - Animal Conservation for Life (KSBK)
INDONESIA - Bali Street Dog Foundation
JAPAN - Japan Wildlife Conservation Society (JWCS)
JAPAN - All Life In a Viable Environment (ALIVE)
MALAYSIA - Sarawak Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
NEPAL - National Zoonoses & Food Hygiene Research Centre
PHILIPPINES - Philippine Society for the Protection of Animals (PSPA)
SINGAPORE - Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (ACRES)
SRI LANKA - Kandy Association for Community Protection through Animal Welfare (KACPAW)
TAIWAN - Environment & Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST)
THAILAND - Thai Animal Guardians Association (Thai AGA)

[Stephanie Durecko]

Thanks to Dette and Linda for providing us with such useful information. The thing here is.....there should be no excuse for those of us who want to put an end to this NOT to write the people that we need to in order to get justice. I could spend an hour drafting a letter, saving it, and inserted the name of my target...it's not hard, it takes time, I understand. But we all need to understand that we can do nothing if we just talk about it. With the help of Dette and Linda we have some pretty good resources here. LETS USE THEM.....REMEMBER...."WE ARE THEIR VOICE". We speak and protest for those who can not, if we don't take the time to connect with these people (fax, email, letter, phonecall) we will never see a change....so I beg all of you, take the time to do these things, to these creatures..IT'S A MATTER OF LIFE OR DEATH...

[Stephanie Durecko]

Thanks for the update and petition...I will write and have this signed and forward accordingly. The more I read, the more it infuriates me.....what's wrong with these people? I can't I can't I'll never understand !!!!!!

[Linda]

It seems that the South Korean government is stubborn about this...after reading so many comments in here, I realized what a big business this is for China and South Korea but if we all pull together and keep knocking at South Korean to open the door to let us in..there would be a big difference and get the fashion industry to listen to us and stop the ordering of fur or fux fur, now it is my knowledge that because the labels on fux fur does not have what the materials are made from it is easy to make the fux furs from animals, yes, they are saying the coats are fux fur, meaning not from real mink but it doesn't say that they can't use dog or cat fur, if they do, that would still be considered fux fur...now I understand we are working on getting labels on fashion items saying what they are really made of from China, but it is taking congress, governments, legislators and more to get this going and making it happening..if we do win about putting labels on fashion items and animal toys and such that bring in fur, that would help a billion times...I just recently sent my fux fur coat because it just had a label saying it was from China. I QVC where I purchased it from and asked them to tell me what the materials are and told them that I am concerened because of the dogs and cats they are skinnning for their fur..then QVC rep in customer service told me that they have quality control over there but everything isn't certain...well on that note, I told them that I was sending my coat back because it looks like dog or cat fur...and told them that these animal furs look different after they are dyed..in fact if anyone wants to know...Dennis Basso that sells his coats on QVC come from China. As long as Dennis Basso is making money from his coats, he isn't going to care what they are made of as long as they bring him money..I have other furs that bought from him before I got into ASPCA and I am giving them away. QVC was very understanding about this..they are nice people over there. Now HSN is something else, they have designers that are raving about their hand bags being made of animals, like they announced what animal, calves, alligators, snakes, etc..I called HSN customer service and said to them, "How awful that this designer is boasting about killing the animals to make his products and your host is encouraging him", then I said what got to me was he was saying how beautiful his hand bags are made of calve skin, "feel how soft they are". Well after that, now that I listen to this designer, he isn't much in the open anymore about what animal it is...but people still buy. I hope not as much.. I am sure I was not the only one that mentioned something to HSN because the designer toned it down very much!

[Linda]

Please read and you will understand why we are fighting for the cats and dogs in South Korea and Asians countries.

A LETTER SENT BY A YOUNG SOUTH KOREAN WOMAN

The man dragged the dog for about twenty meters and tied him to a post. The dog was screaming in pain. The man used his two hands to pull the dog's tail with all his strength, causing the dog to be choked, crushing his backbone.
Using all his strenght he pulled the dog by his left leg. Next he did the same with the right leg. While the dog was still alive, he was tearing his body apart. The dog was moaning with horrible pain.
He took a short break, looking at the dog and observing the dog's dying condition. He waited a few minutes and proceeded to repeat these actions three more times over the next thirty minutes. I asked the man why are you killing the dog so painfully, so cruelly? Why can't you kill him quickly?
He thought I was someone who enjoyed dog meat. He smiled at me and proudly told me, "Dogs should take a long tme to be killed, that way it tastes better."
My heart was aching; I couldn't breathe from the shock. I ran back to my Inn, my face covered in sweat and tears. I cried, "White dog, I wish you peace in heaven. The man who killed you is so cruel, how can he be part of our Korean people? Someday the butcher will die. I believe that he will die just like you, with pain.

Slowly strangled or bludgeoned to death each year before they are boiled, cut up and eaten.

This horrific mistreatment of innocent animals goes on because Korean authorities are turning their backs to the dog and cat meat trade even though Korean law forbids the sale and consumption of dog meant...even though the country's Animal Protection Law considers cats and dogs to be companion animals.

Unfortunately, with the unspoken acceptance of the government, unscrupulous people are promoting the myth that eating that eating severely misterated dogs and cats increases male sexual prowers and general health. They bribe government officials, intimidate animal welfare campaigners and induce newspapers to extol the "virtues" of dog meat.
It's inconveivable to me that innocent beings whom we consider "man's best friends" could be so brutally killed, butchered and eaten.

We must pressure South Korean officials to amend existing animal protection laws to unequivocally state, "dogs and cats should not be slaughtered for human consumption."

Please friends of dogs and cats, these precious animals have no origion, they have no race, let everyone know about this cruel man and his acts..help us here at this group with letters and siging petitions.

I am begging you for your help in ending this horrific travesty.

Thank you for your support,
Linda

[Stephanie Durecko]

Thank youfor this letter. Though it is painful and heart-wrenching to read...these horrors go on every second of every day in these Asian countries. I'm telling you we have to write to the ambassadors of these countries and to their governemtns directly. In addition, I think just as the US has called for Canada to stop the seal hunt, maybe? our government will get involved in resolution calling for China and Korea to stop this inhumane ritual.