Dog Lovers Speak Out Against Chinese Government
More power to our fellow dog lovers! I wish there was something we could do to show that the world is watching!
The stated aims here are to 1) fight rabies and 2) remove strays. So how does grabbing registered dogs away from their guardians and murdering the dogs right there in front of them accomplish either aim? How does banning and killing large dogs accomplish either of these goals if the dogs are licensed and vaccinated?
If you know a way we can support the Chinese protesters and dog lovers, please bark in!
This article comes from The Australian.
Dog lovers arrested in rare Beijing protest
Michael Sheridan, Beijing
November 13, 2006IN an echo of the days when Chairman Mao denounced his foes as “running dogs”, hundreds of angry pet owners confronted the police in Beijing at the weekend to protest the regime’s new “one-dog policy”.
Eighteen people were arrested in noisy scuffles as about 500 dog owners gathered in a rare unauthorised demonstration near Beijing Zoo. Several of the middle-class protesters wore badges that read “stop the killing” and waved stuffed toys in the hope of softening the hearts of the riot police and plainclothes security men who surrounded them.
Police cordoned off the area, massed hundreds of reinforcements in nearby streets and tried to stop photography and filming.
In cities all over China, dog lovers have been outraged as police have swept through districts killing unlicensed dogs and confiscating others. Only dogs shorter than 36cm are allowed.
The aim is to purge the streets of strays and fight rabies, which claimed 326 lives in China last month. It is the heavy-handed imposition of the rules that has angered pet owners.
The protest was sparked by police raids on an area of luxury villas. According to the state news agency, Xinhua, the security forces discovered six “large unlicensed dogs”. Elsewhere, residents have reported seeing policemen beating dogs to death.
