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South China
Sunday Morning Post, 19 December 2004
As more Chinese open their hearts to dogs, animal
lovers are launching a national campaign to have them
taken off the menu before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Simon
Parry reports
Mainland chef Zhang Xingguo has found that being an
animal lover in the northeast province of Liaoning can
carry a heavy price. Since beginning his career at 19,
he has been sacked no less than 13 times in 13 years,
for refusing to kill or cook wild animals, cats or
dogs.
"Dogs are our loyal friends and companions,"
insists the 32 year old, who earlier this year won the
consolation of an award by the China Wildlife
Conservation Association for his principled stand.
"They are not food. They deserve our
protection."
Mr. Zhang is now one of the star of a 16-minute
trilingual VCD which, from next Saturday, is being
distributed across China to try to persuade mainland
diners to stop eating dogs.
The Hong Kong-based Animals Asia Foundation, best
known for founder Jill Robinson's high-profile
campaign to stop bear farming, has produced 10,000
copies of the video in the first nationwide campaign
by any group to try to stop the practice.
The first 1,000 videos will be given out in packs
containing information sheets, stickers and fridge
magnets at a dog show in Shenzhen next Saturday.
The rest will be distributed through mainland
pet clubs in cities including Beijing and Shanghai.
While Mr. Zhang may represent a new emerging
sensibility, the foundation's executive director Annie
Mather admits that stopping the mainland dog-meat
trade will be a task of Herculean proportions. China
is believed to be the world's biggest consumer of dog
meat, with estimates suggesting 10 to 20 million dogs
a year are killed for food.
However, as pet ownership explodes in cities across
the mainland, Ms Mather believes the time is right to
launch a campaign which she hopes could see the
government outlaw the practice of eating dog in time
for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Animals Asia is,
she argues, following and not initiating a trend.
"Dog eating has been going on for centuries in
China and it is culturally ingrained," she said.
"I am not pretending an older person is
going to take one look at our posters and not eat dog
again, but younger people and people who own pets can
make a difference. We are in with a chance I
think.
"China is changing fast - at least in the big
cities and that is where the opinions are made."
"They are opening their minds to the
unconditional love of a dog. Older people living alone
in apartments are getting dogs for company. In
one-child families, often the child is bought a dog
and that dog becomes the child's companion.
"Because of all these changing demographics,
there is a window of opportunity where we can bring in
new ideas."
The dog show in Shenzhen where the video is to be
launched had already been given the slogan "Is a
dog a companion for life or a tasty dish?" by its
members before Animals Asia approached it. The
Shenzhen club jumped at the chance to provide a
platform for the VCD handout.
Animals Asia was conscious as it worked on its video
to ensure the tone was not confrontational. It
puts its message across through a combination of
cheery shots of its Dr. Dog programme - where dogs
visit hospitals and orphanages as "animal
therapists" - and grisly black and white footage
of dogs heading for the slaughter at Guangzhou's
notorious Hua Nam wild animal market.
"What we didn't show is that they routinely kill
the dogs very slowly to maximize the adrenaline in the
body and also when they finally dispatch the dog, the
want the heart to be beating very fast so that the
blood really gushes out," Ms Mather said.
The film ends with a succession of doctors,
pharmacists and celebrities including Paul Wong
Koon-chung, singer with rock band Beyond,
rationalizing the case for an end to the dog-meat
trade. "We Chinese claim to be civilized,"
says Wong. "But in places in Asia including
Hong Kong and China, people see dogs as food and I
think this is uncivilized. It makes me
ashamed."
Ms. Mather stressed: "We are not pointing the
finger at anyone. Our campaign is called 'Friend or
Food'. It is posing a question rather than
telling you shouldn't be doing something.
"There is cruelty - immense, horrible cruelty -
to animals in the west. It is different, but it
is there. There is the cruelty of fur farming
and testing on animals. We are not pointing the
finger and saying anyone is bad or wrong. We are
saying 'Hey, there is another way'."
While the video is distributed, investigators for the
foundation are traveling through every province on the
mainland to try to build up a picture of the scale of
the dog-meat industry. It is expected to report
a trade of massive proportions.
Dog farms across the nation make healthy profits
breeding animals for the trade. In some cases,
according to Animals Asia, the farms cross imported St
Bernard dogs with the usual meat-producing dogs to
breed faster growing, fatter dogs for the market,
which are usually slaughtered at 7 months or less.
There is also a booming trade in dog fur for the
European market, which can have the effect of
intensifying the cruelty of the way in which the
animals are slaughtered. Ms. Mather says she had
heard of dogs having their penises cut off and being
left to bleed to death to avoid damaging a saleable
fur during slaughter.
"Cat and dog fur is being exported to Europe on a
massive scale for use as trim," she said. "Dog
fur looks a lot like rabbit. So you think you are
wearing a nice little rabbit stole but actually you
are wearing a Pomeranian. Dog and cat fur is
also used for toys for pets. It is very
difficult to tell where fur comes from. To know
whether it is from a rabbit or a dog you have to do a
DNA test, which is very expensive.
Many of the dogs that end up in the Guangzhou market
are brought in by truck and endure 3 day journeys from
provinces further north, including Shandong and
Jiangsu, in cramped cages with no food or water.
Sometimes between 1500 and 2,000 dogs arrive in
one lorry load.
At this time of year, more dogs than ever end up on
mainland dining tables. Dog meat is served up
most frequently as a "warming" winter dish
and is particularly popular during this week's winter
solstice. In supermarkets across the nation, if
there's no fresh dog meat for sale, housewives can buy
vacuum packed dog meat and dog meat broth.
In a country where almost every living thing is a
potential item on a restaurant menus, it might seem
problematic to try to argue an exception to the case
for one animal, but Ms. Mather believes she has a
convincing case to put to mainland diners.
"It's not up to me to say 'don't do that',"
she said. "What I would say is did you know that
dogs can be trained to be search and rescue dogs.
They can be seeing eyes for the blind, hearing
ears for the deaf. Did you know there are St
Bernards that save lives in the snow? Did you
know they can be trained to sniff out drugs and
endangered species?
"If you are an epileptic, a dog can be trained to
alert you when you are about to have a seizure. Dogs
can do all these things. Do you still want to eat it?
"I believe that an animal that will love you
unconditionally, that can be trained to do all these
things to help humankind, just shouldn't be on the
menu. I think we are trying to move to a more
compassionate world in the 21st century and I feel
that this is a good step forward."
On the political level, she believes the approach of
the Beijing Olympics can only help the cause.
"Most people overseas don't know China is a dog
eating country and that it probably is the biggest dog
eating country of them all.
"The reaction when people find out is going to be
quite interesting. Perhaps that can help to turn
the tide. The accolades China would get if it
would address the issues would be quite something, not
just from the west but from animal-lovers across
Asia."
On a personal level she says that after her work with
Animals Asia, the incentive to make a difference is
irresistible. "When you've had years and
years of going to these markets and being so
heartbroken by what you see and knowing that anyone of
these so-called meat dogs could be a loving family
pet, you just walk away and think: 'I've got to do
something. I've got to try and change
that'."
Visit www.animalsasia.org for more details
on the Animals Asia Foundation campaign
ParknShop
joins effort to end dog-meat trade
South China
Sunday Morning Post, 19 December 2004
Supermarket shamed over canine carcasses in
Guangdong stores
ParknShop has agreed to promote a campaign against
eating dogs on the mainland after being shamed into
taking dog meat off the shelves in its Guangdong
stores.
The supermarket chain will put up posters and stock
leaflets in its 28 southern China stores in the
campaign, to be launched this week by the Animals Asia
Foundation to try to persuade people not to eat dogs.
It is also planning to stage a roadshow at one of its
megastores in Guangdong, where campaigners will hand
out VCD's carrying the anti-dog eating message.
The move by ParknShop comes after it admitted selling
dog meat - which is legal on the mainland - in 6
stores in Shenzhen and Dongguan despite promising 2
years ago to stop the practice.
ParknShop managers in Hong Kong were alerted after a
shopper took photographs of dog carcasses hanging in
the Dongmen megastore on November 28.
The photos were passed on to Animals Asia Foundation
founder Jill Robinson.
Ms. Robinson and foundation executive director Annie
Mather, held talks with ParknShop at which they
received an undertaking from the supermarket chain to
support the group's campaign.
Iwan Evans, chief executive officer for food,
electronics and general merchandise with ParknShop's
parent company AS Watson, met Ms. Robinson and Ms.
Mather last Saturday.
Ms. Mather said: "He was absolutely appalled that
they had been selling dog meat. He was very
shocked.
"We also took some pictures from the dog-meat
markets to show him and sent a video for him to look
at."
She believed ParknShop was "absolutely
genuine" in its desire to help the campaign
rather than mounting a damage limitation exercise.
The company's involvement would be a boost for the
campaign, she added.
"I think the fact they are involved in this
campaign will send out a strong message."
Teresa Pang Sau-kwan, public relations manager for
ParknShop, who also attended last Saturday's meeting,
denied there was anything cynical about the store's
involvement in the campaign."
"ParknShop made a decision 2 years ago that we
would stop selling dog meat in our China stores, even
though it was legal.
"There was a change of management in ParknShop
China and the new managers weren't aware of the
principle.
"When we realized it we immediately took action
to communicate it to the new management and instructed
them to follow company policy," she said.
"We stressed those guidelines to all stores to
ensure they will follow this company policy strictly
in future."
Ms. Pang said of the campaign by Animals Asia
Foundation: "We want to help. We would like
to help get the message across that a dog is a
companion."
The Animals Asia Foundation has teamed up with
mainland pet clubs to distribute its VCD, which shows
footage of dogs going to slaughter in a Guangzhou
market and anti dog eating appeals from celebrities
and doctors.
The charity is also launching its Dr. Dog programme,
in which dogs visit hospital patients and orphanages
on the mainland.
The mainland is believed to be the biggest consumer of
dog meat in the world, with 10 to 20 million dogs a
year being slaughtered.
Taiwan recently outlawed the consumption of dog meat,
which is already illegal in Hong Kong and many other
countries in Asia.
"Culture can no longer be an excuse for
cruelty," Ms. Robinson said.
"The argument that a practice has occurred for
millennia is unacceptable today.
"We have a responsibility to break the cycle of
cruelty and disrespect towards animals and dogs, who
benefit and enrich our community and everyday
lives."
--
Annie Mather
Executive Director, Head of Media
Animals Asia Foundation
Hong Kong
ANIMALS ASIA HAS A BRAND NEW WEBSITE!
Find out more about the "China Bear Rescue"
and "Friends....or Food?"
http://www.animalsasia.org
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