A Dog Lovers' Nightmare

This was a news last August 2011. It's a little too late. Has anybody heard of Jiangmen? Well, then most likely you've heard of how they've beaten dogs to death to promote their so called "better city":banghead:. They've banned dog ownership due to the death of 42 people from rabies.

Quote:‘Our aim is not to kill all the dogs in the city's urban areas, but we hope to create a better environment for the city by banning the keeping of dogs.
‘And we hope dog owners and residents can understand and cooperate with law enforcement personnel.’
Only people who use dogs to protect property worth more than 5m yuan (£474,000) will be exempt.

Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...China.html

Any thoughts? Especially regarding the beating of dogs since it sounds like they aren't humanely put to sleep either?

How about anti-rabies shots? Is the government giving out free rabies shots as a mandatory requirement to owning a dog more expensive than putting them all to sleep or paying the authorities to beat them all to death?

How sad this is! The fact that the dogs are beaten to death very disturbing.

Wouldn't a better option be to have a government supported anti-rabies program where they immunize dogs so they would not be a hazard to people? Also, they should promote spay/neuter programs to keep stray populations low.

This news is beyond disturbing! I have nothing nice to say about the people who made the decision to pass this law. They should concentrate on sorting out the obvious poverty in their city so that people will be able to afford to vaccinate their dogs. I don't understand how people can think it's ok to beat living creatures to death. If they are going to euthanize them then at least do so humanely.

As for the question of how they can afford to pay the officials .. they probably pay them pittance to do so if they even pay them at all. It may just be seen as part of the job.

To be honest I hope more people find out about this internationally so that Jiangmen is publicly condemned for their actions.

From a dog lover's point of view, that's a horrible situation. However we have to consider the fact that what happened took place in a country where dog meat is sold as "fragrant flesh" to be eaten as an aphrodisiac.

As for the anti-rabies program, I think, if I understand rightly how the Chinese government works, the dog owners will have to pay for it. Which is quite logical, actually. Why should people who do not keep dogs have to pay for the vaccination of dogs kept by other people? It would almost be like forcing people who don't keep dogs to clean up dog poop.

If I am correct, licenses are required to have dogs in China.
In some cities, each family can only have one dog. I think they are forcefully removing the "illegal" ones.

(06-14-2012 08:36 PM)Victor Leigh Wrote:  From a dog lover's point of view, that's a horrible situation. However we have to consider the fact that what happened took place in a country where dog meat is sold as "fragrant flesh" to be eaten as an aphrodisiac.

As for the anti-rabies program, I think, if I understand rightly how the Chinese government works, the dog owners will have to pay for it. Which is quite logical, actually. Why should people who do not keep dogs have to pay for the vaccination of dogs kept by other people? It would almost be like forcing people who don't keep dogs to clean up dog poop.

I'm not sure if I still live in a 3rd world country but China looks more industrialized than the Philippines. Yet our mayor and other mayors (specifically in Marikina), require dog registration costing roughly a dollar per dog and with the registration, you get to have free anti-rabies shots. I think that's a good deal.

In my city, we have free rabies shots because the mayor knows that people cannot afford to spend extra on this due to the poverty. So I'm just confused why it is necessary to beat street dogs in the eyes of the public?

(06-15-2012 12:20 PM)haopee Wrote:  I'm not sure if I still live in a 3rd world country but China looks more industrialized than the Philippines. Yet our mayor and other mayors (specifically in Marikina), require dog registration costing roughly a dollar per dog and with the registration, you get to have free anti-rabies shots. I think that's a good deal.

In my city, we have free rabies shots because the mayor knows that people cannot afford to spend extra on this due to the poverty. So I'm just confused why it is necessary to beat street dogs in the eyes of the public?

If people are in poverty, then they shouldn't be having a dog. Dogs cost as much as a small child at least. It's not a good way to live in poverty.

In some culture, dogs are no different from cattle. Since cattle regularly get butchered, some people don't see a problem beating a dog to death either. Especially for those officials, since they are not the ones doing the beating. If they have to do it themselves, do you think they would do it? Probably not.

Victor, I think in this case, since rabies has become a problem, the government should help out because it is a public safety issue.

Even here we have low cost rabies clinics for people who might not be able to go to a Vet and pay their higher fees. Mostly those are at clinics that take donations but the state helps fund these programs as well.

Ram, I agree that there could be a more humane way to do this. Euthanasia would be better than beating to death. Spaying and neutering would be good to keep the unwanted dog population down. Even here in California, it's people who don't spay or neuter their dogs and cats who cause the problems of pets ending up in our shelters. Most shelters automatically spay and neuter pets as part of the adoption process. It saves them money in the end since another unwanted litter will end up filling their cages--and they already don't have enough room.

Well, the last I checked, China is not a democracy with an elected government. So things which are considered the right thing to do are not always viewed the same way in China. I am not saying that I am in agreement with how China handles certain issues. I am just saying that they handle things differently.