China clubs to death 50,000 dogs, activists react

We really were too upset over this situation to even talk about it... but the HSUS is here to help as you'll read below.

To begin with, the appalling news is that China slaughtered 50,000 dogs in a government-ordered crackdown after three people died of rabies.

The five-day slaughter in Mouding county in Yunnan province in southwestern China ended Sunday and spared only military guard dogs and police canine units.

Dogs being walked were seized from their owners and beaten to death on the spot, the Shanghai Daily newspaper reported. Led by the county police chief, killing teams entered villages at night creating noise to get dogs barking, then beat the animals to death, the reports said. Owners were offered 63 cents per animal to kill their own dogs before the teams were sent in.

Activists React
The killings prompted calls for a boycott of Chinese products from the activist group People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

“We are urging everyone to actively boycott — not a word we use lightly — anything from China given the bludgeoning killing of thousands of dogs,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said.

She said the group had canceled all orders of merchandise it sells that are made in China. Will Wright, at PETA’s European office in London, said the orders were worth about $300,000.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) offered $100,000 to the government of China to establish an effective rabies control program in certain southern provinces in the country, conditional upon the government's termination of its mass dog killing programs and its acceptance of assistance to develop a humane and effective rabies control program.

Through HSUS you can, tell China to stop slaughtering dogs and take a more humane approach to rabies prevention or make a donation to support HSUS humane dog control programs worldwide.

Comments

[JBD]

Ironic - I was washing my cat's water bowl and noticed the sticker was still on the bottom... it said "Ethical Products" as the company then I looked closer and under it was "Made in China."

I've seen some gruesome photos of this slaughter and it makes me sick to my stomach.