Outrage at China

This is almost too shocking to be believable but it is real. When I look at my sweet little Sammy, my stomach churns at what’s going on in China. That country is in the midst of a massive cull of tens of thousands of dogs in an ignorant and backwards attempt to curb the spread of rabies. This is just part of the very graphic details: pets are literally being ripped from the hands of their owners and beaten to death on the spot. I hesitated to write about this horror until I had some sort of means of protest to share.

I tend to find PETA well meaning but too radical for my taste but so far, on this issue they are bang on. They’re calling for a ban on Chinese products. Done. We’re just a couple of people but if everyone who is horrified by this outrageous over-reaction to China’s rabies problem takes part, it could possibly have a real effect. We can’t go over there and stop it ourselves but maybe we can feel a little less helpless about it.

In recent years rabies has become a major problem in China. 2 years ago, more than 2 thousand people died from rabies and blame was mostly laid on dog owners who didn’t get their pets vaccinated. There’s a 3% compliance rate. But instead of cracking down on the problem, they have decided to brutally kill the animals. Police dogs, army dogs, household pets – they’re all being killed on sight if they’re within a 3 mile radius of a rabies infected person, of which there are 3 – yes 3 – so far this year. And what will the result be? The next wave of dog owners will not have learned anything about vaccination and responsible pet ownership, leaving the country at risk for another mass extermination in the future. What can we expect from a country with such a poor record on human rights? I wouldn’t have even imagined this.