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...

[Stephanie Durecko]

THIS POST IS FROM DETTE (ORIGINAL)

In 2007 the work to help dogs and cats continues

We need your help more than ever!


Grim reality for China’s cats and dogs
The gruelling Year of the Dog has come and gone, but ruthless dog culls are continuing. Cat and dog eating too remains rampant. Now, more than ever, cats and dogs in China need our help.

With your continuing support, we are working hard on the ground, meeting with policy-makers, advising local lobby groups, petitioning leaders, letter-writing and pushing ahead with our practical education campaigns to find solutions. As the leading group tackling these issues countrywide, Animals Asia is there every step of the way – and despite the challenges, we are making progress.

Dr Dogs give reason for hope
Our Dr Dog animal-therapy programme is now thriving in Chengdu and Guangzhou (China’s dog-eating capital) and we recently launched in Shenzhen, with visits attracting crowds of reporters who are amazed by the benefits the dogs bring to patients. We now have more than 40 registered animal-therapy dogs working in mainland China, and 250 in Hong Kong, plus hundreds of local volunteers.

Some of these dogs are mixed-breed, helping to spread the message that it’s not just expensive pedigree dogs that deserve our respect. This message will be crucial in Malaysia, where we have just introduced Dr Dog, because certain cultures view dogs as vermin. Also, an influx of Chinese workers on construction sites means dog-eating is becoming more commonplace.

Working together for a better future
Since we hosted China’s first Companion Animal Welfare Symposium in Guangzhou last year, we have been working closely with many of the 32 delegate groups from around China. These dedicated people have helped to distribute over 133,000 dog and cat care packs, including pet-care leaflets, our anti dog and cat eating "Dr. Eddie" video and our new dog-bite prevention leaflets, all of which are firsts for China.

We are expecting even more groups to participate in our second symposium, which will be held in November. This year’s focus will be on practical, “how-to” advice for delegates.

Animals Asia now has 14 hard-working support groups around China – including at universities and colleges in Nanjing, Shanxi and Hunan – organising promotional events and lobbying for change. They help us too on a practical level. Recently our support groups surveyed supermarkets in six provinces to gauge the amount of dog meat being sold (fortunately, not as much as we feared).

AAF plays pivotal role during dog culls
Our China Relations Director, Christie Yang, is constantly inundated with calls and emails from pet owners and welfare groups as merciless dog culls – often of all dogs, regardless of whether they’re registered and vaccinated – continue in cities through China as a knee-jerk reaction to rabies outbreaks. The brutal killing is in stark defiance of global consensus that culls simply do not work and that the only way to eradicate rabies is through systematic vaccination.

The importance of AAF’s role as adviser and conciliator is growing as local people are increasingly unwilling to accept such brutality. Christie is able to offer practical advice to distraught callers who fear they will lose their beloved pets, such as suggesting they contact the media and telling them which local authorities to write to. But it’s not just animal lovers who are se

[Stephanie Durecko]

Thanks for supporting our campaign!

EU bans trade in dog and cat fur
Freshly skinned dog pelts

Dyed cat fur shawls for sale

An EU-wide ban on the trade in cat and dog fur will come into effect on 31 December 2008. This is great news for dogs and cats and will, we hope, have a dramatic effect on the number of companion animals killed in China for the fur trade, currently estimated to be over 2 million dogs and cats per year.

Due to intense lobbying by Animals Asia and other animal welfare groups and thanks to your support through your letter-writing and contact with your local MEPS, the ban was passed with no proposed exemptions that would have allowed the possibility for cat and dog fur to be placed on the EU market provided that the fur product was (a) “labelled as originating from cats or dogs that have not been bred or killed for fur production”, or (b) constituted “personal or household effects” introduced into, or exported from, the European Community.

Long-standing friend of Animals Asia, Struan Stevenson MEP said: “It is music to my ears to hear this decision, it has taken eight years to get this far. About two million cats and dogs are killed in China alone to supply the fashion market in Europe with items such as toy cats, bought by unsuspecting buyers not realising that they have been made out of real cat and dog skin. The trade also uses cat skins to make collars for trim for parka hoods, ski boots and ski glove linings.”

Sadly, although this declaration has the ability to prevent the brutal death of millions of cats and dogs being cruelly tortured in the name of fashion, it may mean that other animals will take their place if the demand for fur remains. We therefore remain committed to raising awareness of the fur trade regardless of the species of animal involved, and will continue to urge EU shops not to sell any fur items.

Animals Asia will also continue to work to end the brutal slaughter and consumption of millions of companion animals.

Our aim is to collect 75,000 petition signatures, representing the estimated average number of dogs and cats eaten every day in China. The petitions will be handed to the Chinese Ambassador. We currently have over 25,000 signatures, one third of the number we need. If you would like to help us by distributing and collecting signatures, please download a Friends or Food? Petition.

It is essential that we maintain pressure on the Chinese Government in order to improve the lives of animals. With your help we will make a difference!

[Stephanie Durecko]

SOMETHINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IGNORANT PEOPLE

Cats and Dogs
Skinned Alive - Cats and Dogs Killed for the Fur Trade
Hanging by the neck from a wire noose, water is poured down their throat through a hose until they drown. Many are skinned while still alive.

This is just one of the horrific scenes captured on video by investigators from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) as they infiltrated the cat and dog fur industry in China, Thailand and the Philippines. Cats and dogs that were once someone's pets, rounded up, transported in sacks and crates. Some are held in dingy, dark unheated buildings during the bitter winter of northern China, often without food or water.

The 18-month undercover investigation discovered that the trade in cat and dog fur is far bigger than was ever previously believed - the HSUS has revealed that more than 2 million of these domestic animals are abused and killed by the international fur trade each year. And this sick trade isn't just something that happens in far off lands - at least one company in Britain recently traded openly in the furs of these animals.

Infiltrating this industry, the HSUS and German investigative reporter Manfred Karremann filmed and photographed the whole sordid business from start to finish, exposing how the trade is inextricably linked to the rest of the fur industry. Cat and dog fur products were found by the HSUS in several countries across Europe as well as the USA, and according to the HSUS "(fur) auction house employees said that some of their customers come from the US, though most are from Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain."

These animals end up as gloves, coats, hats or fur trim; their skins are used in the production of drums and other musical instruments.

Some of the animals are raised on breeding farms, mostly in northern China where the colder climate enhances the quality and thickness of the animals' coats. Anywhere from 5 to 300 dogs are kept on dog farms; up to 70 cats are kept on the cat farms. Not all the animals come from these breeding centres; some Chinese families keep a few cats or dogs and kill them when the annual slaughter season begins.

Long-haired cats are kept as pets in China. Short-haired cats, especially grey cats or orange tabbies, are kept outside, generally tethered by wire, and raised for their fur. Estimates are that about half a million cats are killed each season, from October to February.

Investigators visited fur companies where they were told 50,000 cat skins and the same number of dog skins were in stock. One claimed to have as many as 100,000 cat skins in its factory. The furs are made into coats that are virtually indistinguishable from fur such as mink or fox, and are on display with furs from other animals.

Referring to the similarities between domestic cat and dog fur, and fur from other species, a HSUS spokesperson said "We can consider all fur trim to be suspect", adding, "consumers have to be vigilant" and report suspicious items.
The president of a German company prominent in the cat fur trade is quoted as saying: "When cat fur is dyed it is not easily distinguished from other furs."

Around 24 cats are required to make a fur coat, and 10-12 dogs. This number is obviously higher if kittens and puppies are used.

Slaughterhouses
In the Philippines, investigators visited a cat slaughterhouse where as many as 100 cats are killed and skinned on one day. The animals here were killed primarily for their skin rather than fur, but the suffering is the same. Only male cats are used as the nipples of female cats reduces the usable size of the skin. This has led to a scarcity of male cats in the city where the slaughterhouse is located, and collectors drive to distant cities to round up the cats. Some of the animals are strays, while most are stolen pets. The cats are stuffed into sacks and driven for up to 6 hours without food or water to the slaughterhouse. Investigators witnessed cats hung from the neck by ropes, while other cats watched helplessly. Videos and photos show young children helping in the slaughterhouse.
The involvement of children appears to be common, as when police in the Philippines raided the home of a woman in September '99 who had been killing cats for their fur, they found that she was using children to round up and kill the animals. Police found the remains of butchered cats as well as live cats in bamboo cages. The home owner's business apparently exported the cats' fur to Japan (where it was used as lining for boots, purses and coats) and sold the flesh as meat to be ground into sausage.

Labelling
It is clear that cat and dog fur does not usually get labelled as such. Fur traders told investigators that any label could be put in any garment or fur product, depending on the preference of the buyer. According to the HSUS "in other words, the company supplying the fur was perfectly willing to label dog or cat fur as being fur from some other species presumably more acceptable to consumers."

A German importer told investigators that the export of cat and dog furs to the US wasn't a problem - explaining that it was just a question of what the product is called.

Cat fur is known by several names: house cat, wild cat, Katzenfelle, Goyangi, mountain cat.
Dog fur may be labelled as gae-wolf, goupee, or sobaki, among other names, while dog skin is often referred to as special skin, lamb skin or mountain goat skin.

Dog and cats skins are used for a variety of products, such as bed sheets, golf gloves, handbags and rheumatism aids. In some countries the furs are on open sale - in Germany cat fur pelts, jackets and throws are on open sale in petrol stations.

The British Connection
In March 1999, BBC Newsnight exposed a London fur company trading in cat and dog fur. The BBC investigator visited Alaska Brokerage International, based next door to the Head Quarters of the British Fur Trade Association. Equipped with a hidden camera he secretly filmed an Alaska salesman (believed to be the director of the company, Peter Bartfeld) offering 10,000 "dressed goupee" (dog fur from China) skins and 150,000 cat furs. He boasted to the investigator that whatever trade was being done in the fur in Britain, he was the one doing it.

Following this expose, Alaska International became a major campaign target of anti-fur campaigners. Shortly after the Newsnight report, a director and the secretary of the company - Kenneth and Annie Brown - resigned from Alaska and the related company A B China Direct Ltd, claiming they had relinquished all connections with the fur trade.
Peter Bartfeld, his wife Carol and son Gideon, became joint directors of the company. Peter Bartfeld has a lot of business interests in the fur trade and is a former director of the British Fur Trade Association.

Protests have been held against the company and at the Bartfeld's north London home. In June '99 their son Alexander held a wedding reception near Hyde Park - over 100 hundred protesters gathered outside the hotel to demonstrate as friends and people from the fur business arrived to the reception.

An American fur trade journal reported on actions being taken against Alaska and the Bartfeld's, saying that tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage had been caused to their home and that they have had to spend $25,000 on security. It reports "In addition, he is constantly barraged by hate mail and falsely ordered subscriptions to publications and other unwanted services."

The more money Bartfeld has to spend on security makes the trade in the murder of innocent animals less profitable.

The Campaign in the United States:
The findings of the HSUS investigation caused an even bigger stir in the US. A national department chain, the Burlington Coat Factory, was found to be selling fur-trimmed garments labelled as 'Mongolia Dog Fur', one of the many names used for domestic dog fur from China. Only DNA testing can confirm the exact type of fur used, and the coat mentioned above turned out to be German Shepherd dog fur.

Following this, the Burlington Coat Factory removed all domestic cat and dog fur items and donated $100,000 to the HSUS to help cover the cost of the investigation. This was simply a public relations ploy to try and limit the damage caused, but it reveals how worried companies are at being exposed.

Unfortunately for Burlington, anti-fur campaigners have used this embarrassment to campaign for Burlington to stop selling any animal fur - after all what is the difference between a coyote and a German Shepherd?

In the US, fur products being sold for less than $150 are not required to be labelled, and conveniently for the fur trade, many items made with cat and dog fur are sold for less than $150 so are not labelled.

There are however political moves to ban the sale of cat and dog fur within the US. A national Bill is currently passing through its various stages that would, if successful, ban the trade. The bill also requires labelling of fur content for all products regardless of their price. Meanwhile, individual states are taking their own political action.

What's the difference?
While most people will be rightly horrified and distressed at the way in which cats and dogs are bred, stolen, transported, abused and killed for their fur, they will hopefully realise that there is no difference between this and the murder of other animals for their fur. 40 million animals are killed each year for their fur: reared on factory farms that cause them to go mad and mutilate themselves and each other, or caught in vicious leghold traps and left to starve, freeze, drown, be beaten to death or gnaw off their own limbs in a futile attempt to escape. This is the reality of the fur trade. The trade does not care whether the animals they kill are wild animals, are bred specifically for their fur, or are stolen pets from someone's garden. Those in the fur trade have no conscience, no morals. They are governed by greed and selfishness.

Fur trade bodies in the US had a mixed reception to the expose. While the Fur Commission was reluctant to criticise the use of cat and dog fur (later trying to diffuse the situation by comparing the killing of 2 million cats and dogs to the 8 million domestic animals put down in US animal shelters), a spokesperson for the Fur Council described it as "distasteful to think about ... who would want to buy that? Dogs and cats are pets to us."

Members of the National Trappers Association joked about the issue, commenting "on the lighter side, I was wondering if there is a market for those stray tom cats I catch in my coon cubbies!", referring to the thousands of "trash" (ie non-target) animals caught in their traps each year (coon means racoon).

In the UK, the fur industry at first remained silent. But later Jan Brown of the British Fur Trade Assn, the body representing the fur industry in Britain came out in support of the trade in cat and dog fur. She wrote to several national newspapers claiming that these animals were not pets and their slaughter for fur coats was justifiable.

What You Can Do
Support our campaign against the killing of cats, dogs and other animals for the fur trade
Contact us for details of protests, and send a donation to enable us to campaign
Write to politicians, newspapers, cat and dog groups / publications on this issue.

[Stephanie Durecko]

MeShell...since you asked I was just going to post it..see great minds think alike.

Here are a bunch of info which is a start

These are petitions that need our signtures
1. Boycott China...end it's animal terror : http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/395884823

2. Stop China from the continuing slaughter of cats & dogs: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/920837328

3. Fight for animal abuse laws in China: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/fight-for-animal-abuse-laws-in-china

that's a start, there's a prohibition enforcement act on the books but I'll find out more on it and how to support it.

[Stephanie Durecko]

THIS BILL NEEDS OUR SUPPORT - WRITE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE LET'S GET THIS BILL PASSED


Congressional Legislation

'To ensure that domestic dog and cat fur is prohibited from being imported, exported, manufactured, sold, or advertised in the United States and to require the labeling of all fur products under the Fur Products Labeling Act. '
Bill # H.R.891

Original Sponsor:
James Moran (D-VA 8th)

Cosponsor Total: 165
(last sponsor added 01/29/2008)
126 Democrats
39 Republicans



About This Legislation:

2/7/2007--Introduced.


Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act - Amends provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 that prohibit the importation of dog or cat fur to modify the definitions of "cat fur" and "dog fur" to include the pelt or skin of the domestic cat or dog, respectively.
Amends the Fur Products Labeling Act to expand the definition of "fur product" to include all fur as defined by such Act regardless of the quantity used.

[Ginni]

I am following these links. This is horrible.

[Linda]

Thank you Ginni.
God Bless you....

[Dette]

steph, thanks a lot for this, now that the news about the olympic clean up is everywhere, i have posted these sites at PAWS website and encouraged many to take part... God bless your heart!!

[Stephanie Durecko]

Renee...thanks so much for the info...I am definetly on it !!!

[Stephanie Durecko]

http://www.community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2007_FUR_LABELING

We Need The Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007

Protect consumers and animals by stopping the sale of fur from raccoon dogs—a member of the dog family sometimes skinned alive in China—and requiring all fur garments to be labeled. Recent HSUS tests showed that animal fur is frequently mislabeled or marked as faux fur.


TAKE ACTION:
Please ask your U.S. Representative to support and co-sponsor the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007. You can reach your Representative by calling the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, or click here to find your Representative's office phone number.

After you make your phone call, please fill in and submit the form at the right to automatically send a follow-up email to your Representative urging support for the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007 (H.R. 891). Be sure to make your message even more effective by putting it into your own words!

» Forward to a Friend | » Tell Me More

Subject:




Dear [ Decision Maker ],


Please co-sponsor H.R. 891, the Dog and Cat Fur Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007, a bill to protect consumers and animals by requiring all fur products be labeled and by banning the sale of fur from raccoon dogs, a member of the dog family killed in large numbers in China, sometimes skinned alive.


(Edit Letter Below)

Dog fur is being sold in the United States on fur jackets that are not labeled. Dog fur is also being sold as faux fur.

Raccoon dog fur is being sold nationwide on jackets that are not labeled. Raccoon dog fur is also being sold as faux fur, raccoon fur, or coyote fur.

Approximately one out of seven fur products sold in the United States are not required to have a label that tells consumers that they are buying real fur, the species, or the country the animal was killed in.

Whatever their stance on fur, consumers have a right to know what they are getting.

Half of all finished fur products entering the United States come from China, where dogs, cats, and raccoon dogs are all killed for their fur, sometimes being skinned alive.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address] Take Action on this Issue
Send this message to:
Your Congressperson

[Linda]

My dear friends, all of this information is so true and real in these countries..every time I see a picture of these animals waiting for their death I just have tears from knowing we can't actually be there to help them, but by signing petitions and writing letters to the right decision makers, we can help them and make a difference, we just have to continue and never give up...I am going to go through each and every petition in here and write letters that will make a difference. See Vladimir's educational section in making a difference...that page will get you started in how to do things. The way these poor animals are murdered and suffering in pain waiting for their death is the ignorance of barbaric people. My letters will also state that these people should have education on BIRTH CONTROL. The less people they have the more food they would have and the less killing of dogs and cats to be eaten.. Beware of fux fur, China is now making from real fur of cats and dogs..ask where your fux fur coat was made and make sure to ask what type of materials were used to make your coat.

[Linda]

I heard that the Korean prime minister was an A_ _ H _ _ _ _. That when he receives these letters, he does more to not reinforce the laws and he encourages the outrage suffering of these innocent animals. I hope it is not true but this is what I have read about these Korean officals. This is why I have no respect for the Korean. All we can do is continue to send letters and cry out for to these officals to stop the horrible ways of their people in treating animals to eat and skin their fur off. Sometimes I degrade these people and sound very disrepectful toward them but in my letters I am respectful as I would like them to be toward the animals and me..so please when you write to them, be cordial. I believe in the ole adage, "You catch more bears with honey" I am sorry but these people have no compassion, and they are also stupid..the whole solution is called: "BIRTH CONTROL" Less people, more food to eat.