China killing family dogs as part of “strike hard” crack down

Just when you think China can’t possibly have a less lovely government, you read an article like this in today’s New York Times describing a crack down not on Tibetans or democracy advocates or the Falun Gong…but man’s best friend.

Beijing is a city of at least 12 million people and at least a million dogs, about half of which are unregistered and deemed fugitives in the eyes of the local police.

The complication, of course, is that many of these fugitives are also beloved pets, so confrontation is almost inevitable and has been rising in recent weeks as the police have begun a swift and harsh crackdown against illegal dogs.
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Last Tuesday, though, Beijing newspapers carried a notice about the new campaign, under way since October, concerning “pet dog management work.�? It said households with too many dogs, or with big dogs, would have 10 days to relocate them. In essence, owners had 10 days to get rid of the dogs or the police would do it for them.

The note also promised to pay rewards to people who helped the police catch neighbors violating the dog rules.

Anxiety and outrage have quickly spread among dog owners. Several reported that the police were already apprehending large dogs in apartment compounds and had even entered individual apartments to seize some dogs. Web sites posted photographs of dogs crammed into holding pens at dingy city pounds. Another Internet posting warned that a slaughter of stray dogs and cats would begin next week.

Illegal dogs are often still pets, they’re just not registered. The Chinese government is literally stealing dogs from their owners and killing them. Officials are justifying it as an effort to stop the spread of rabies, but that doesn’t hold water when the dogs being targeted in this crack down are domesticated pets. I don’t know too many people who would let a rabid dog into their apartment.

The real justification for the crackdown is much simpler and more in keeping with China’s recent wave of restrictions on the press and the populace: the 2008 Olympics.

[Dog Management Officer Shi Chenhe] said officials wanted to ensure that no one was bitten and injured during the 2008 Olympics. “Of course, it is related to the Games,�? Mr. Shi said. “Everything needs to be cleaned up before the Olympics.�?

China is trying to polish their image in advance of 2008, which includes reducing the number of dogs that might sully Beijing’s streets or bark at night.

Athens faced a large dog problem in the lead-up to the summer 2004 Games, though they dealt with it in a much more open-handed way. First, Greece was up-front about their need to fix a dog problem before the Olympics, but did so humanely.

Athens, for its part, is funneling about $2 million this year into new animal shelters, new animal control officers and a major sterilization project. Stray by randy stray, dogs are being rounded up, neutered and then — if they are not adopted in two weeks — set free to roam anew, but in a less reproductive fashion. (Times Select link)

China, on the other hand, is rounding up pets from their owners and shipping them off to be killed. They’re not trying to make dogs in the city more healthy – they’re disappearing the dogs. As always, every effort to make China clean and polished for 2008 is done through the most brutal and illiberal tactics imaginable. And when the truth comes out, China looks as foul and dirty as ever.



2 Responsesto “China killing family dogs as part of “strike hard” crack down”

1. m.y says:

   November 16, 2006 at 9:51 pm

   First of all, I do not agree with the government’s action. however, i find your post quite biased. Rabies is a serious problem, in the same article that you quoted, 1735 people died due to rabies. You suggested that people can not catch rabies because dogs are kept in the apartment. However you should know that people do walk their dogs outside and that’s where people are bitten. You also ignore the realities of dog owners in China, many do not pick up after their dogs’ waste, do not leash their dogs in public. In addition, no where does the article mention that dogs are being killed in Beijing, while you link brutal tactics of killing dogs to the Olympic game. Lastly, many people in China are outraged about this crackdown, but please do not paint China as foul and dirty because that is not the only side of China. While most people include me do not like the government very much, calling China foul and dirty does offend me a great deal.
2. MND: » Keeping Up Appearances: China’s Olympic City to Slay a Million Dogs says:

   November 19, 2006 at 12:13 am

   [...] Read the full story. [...]
3. Dee Cook says:

   November 28, 2006 at 12:38 am

   China is evil and they kill and skin dogs for food…this is a fact. China is a cruel and nasty culture and I would never attend an olympic games there and from this time on I even refuse to buy anything made in China and I will tell everyone I know about the website http://www.voice4dogs.org
   It is not about the government taking away people precious pets …what a load of cods waddle…it is about the cruelty of the Chinese people who have dogs and cats as part of their eating habits.
   SHAME ON YOU CHINA !!!
   You are going to try to show the world how wonderful you are in 2008 but most of us have already formed an opinion of you and your horrid little culture.
   THEY SHOULD TAKE THE OLYMPIC’S AWAY FROM YOU !!!
   You first kill the Tibetian way of Life and now you kill poor defensless animals…whats next on your list of cruel things you can do??
   Oh wait there you already kill your children don’t you.