Extract of the WSPA report (following an investigation tour in China)

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The appended report is posted with permission of :

Saint Bernard Dogs – International. For more information please consult their internet site http://www.interportail.net/SosStBernardDogs

Unhappily, what the Chinese do in China is not confined to the "Far East".

What they are doing to our Saint Bernard dogs is not only inhumane and

offensive, but a gross insult to over one billion Catholics worldwide.

 

 

 

Extract of the WSPA report (following an investigation tour in China)

An WSPA investigation in China has revealed a trend towards the gross intensification of the trade in dog meat, with millions of dogs passing through the hands of breeders and slaughterhouses every year. The Saint Bernard is the latest breed of pedigree dog to fall victim to the increasing commercialisation of the dog meat industry. After producers of the most commonly eaten dog in China - Mongolian Chinese Meat Dog – discovered the benefits of introducing a Saint Bernard stain into the meat chain.

When WSPA investigators visited five Saint Bernard breeding centres in China, they were alarmed by the scale of the industry. Government funding for private enterprise was behind row upon row of caged Saint Bernard dogs Saint Bernard dogs, each animal waiting to enter the chain of meat manufacture. Promotional brochures openly boasted the breeding of dogs for human consumption, describing the Saint Bernard as a great money-spinner due to its quick growth and low maintenance. Although the sale and consumption of dog meat is nothing new to China and South East Asia, mass production methods are presenting business opportunities that are compromising the welfare of animals even further, and on a previously unprecedented scale.

Why is the Saint Bernard favoured?

Valued for its gentle nature, and known for its early maturity and large yielding litters of puppies, the Saint Bernard has introduced a set of characteristics to a new breed of dog that is producing a more economical and profitable source of meat Promotional literature describes how a Saint Bernard bitch has ten good breeding years to her life, and can produce up to twelve puppies twice a year. Although pure-bred Saint Bernards are not eaten – their flavour is considered to be too bland – they are used for cross-breeding at the beginning of the meat chain. In terms of a family tree, a Saint Bernard’s ‘grandchildren’ will be eaten.

 

Dog meat: a government enterprise

When WSPA investigators tracked down a Saint Bernard breeding farm located in North West China near Shenyang City, the farm owner confirmed that he sourced his breeding stock from Europe. The majority of the farmer’s dogs were being used to cross-breed with Mongolian Chinese Meat Dogs and produce meat for human consumption.

 

Established in 1996, the farm is typical of new business ventures that have sprung up across China over the past five years. The Chinese Government is positively welcoming these new and fashionable business ventures, and is giving significant financial support and encouragement.

WSPA’s investigator Trevor Wheeler discovered how a European Saint Bernard’s descendants end up on the dinner plate. “The farmer told us that his establishment was founded with a core of dogs imported from Switzerland and Russia. They arrived in China under the guise of pets.” The farmer revealed the truth: “More than 75 per cent of my dogs are bred into the meat chain. I have 40 Saint Bernards, and 36 females. Each can produce a litter of between 8 and 12 puppies twice a year, which means that I can sell 700 individual dogs each year. The remaining 25 per cent will probably be sold as pets.”

While Trevor Wheeler was in China, he also visited pet trade market at Shenyang. “Most of the puppies here were far too young to have been separated from their mothers”, he said. “Some of them were just four weeks old, and it was blatantly obvious that they were suffering greatly from exposure to winter temperature of lower than minus 30 degrees centigrade.

How much a Saint Bernard costs

In the remote mining town of Datong, the Saint Bernard Dog Meat Breeding Centre was established in 1998. Occupying 200 acres of land and accommodating approximately 100 dogs, the centre produces some 200 cross-bred puppies each year. Most of them are sold as breeding stock to dog meat farms in the North Eastern and Southern provinces of China, and into Mongolia. A breeding pair of first generation cross dogs would be sold to meat farms for 40'000 RMB (£ 2'700). These costs contrast greatly with the price of dog meat, whether it’s sold dead or alive. At just 13 RMB (£ 1.20) for half a kilo, a live dog can amount to no more than £ 18. Ready killed and skinned, dog meat is sold for 19 RMB (£1.75) per half a kilo.

Rapid expansion

The potential for trading with other countries in South East Asia is currently untapped, but demand exists for exportation to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Korea. At the moment , demand for dog meat is so high in China itself, that supply will not begin to fulfil requirement in other countries. For example, one farm owner cited hotels from the Gwan-Tong area on the East cost as requiring as many as 1'000 dogs every month. There are plans to during 2001, and the breeding centre in Datong already has an extra 48 kennels waiting to house Mongolian Chinese Meat Dogs due to arrive soon. A meat processing factory is also to be added in 2001. This means that by the end of the year 2001, the entire process of breeding pedigrees, cross-breeding, slaughter and meat processing will be completed on site.

Dead meat

The final stage in the production of dog meat is slaughter. In the village of Dong Pu, 30 acres of land house 20 breeding blocks at another dog meat farm. It was established by a senior government official in 1997, when financial sponsorship was given to him by the authorities. Inside the breeding block, each dog occupies an area of just three square metres. Here, the animal will spend their limited lives: no more than eight months. A dirty shed provides the slaughter area, where investigators found two freshly killed and skinned dogs hanging from rusty meat hooks. For brief examination of the carcasses, it was apparent that the dogs had been killed by cutting downwards from the throat towards the heart. This method was confirmed by the farm owner, who described the process in more detail. As dogs are generally feared in China, the staff use long-handled tongs to catch the animal around the neck from what they consider a safe distance. A second member of staff then strikes the dog over the head with an iron bar, and a knife is stuck into the throat and drawn down towards the heart. This leads to profuse bleeding and eventual death. No signs of aggression were witnessed among any dogs bred for meat, and this violent method of slaughter was blatantly unnecessary.

 

Most dogs are killed between six and eight months old, and can be sold either dead or alive. If a purchaser expresses a preference for a live animal (perhaps for freshness), the dog is “subdued” by a strike to the head with an iron bar. Following the disabling blow, it is trussed up and carried away. Under these circumstance there is no knowing how the animal meets its end, or how long it must wait, with its limbs tightly bound for death.

Peak demand for dog meat is late Summer to early Autumn when, for instance, the farm in Dong Pu holds around 2'000 dogs, supplying between 40 and 50 dogs each day. Throughout the year, an average supply figure is four to five dogs a day. Some private buyers ask for the fur of the animal for making clothes, and others like to take away drained blood for drinking.

Saint Bernard takes on new meaning

The Saint Bernard is a breed of dog that has a historical bond with man. Its gentle nature, strength and size once earned it the status of mountain rescue dog, and through this affinity, it became one of Switzerland’s national symbols. It acquired its name centuries ago when rescue dogs of this breed were kept by the monks of the hospice at the Great Saint Bernard Pass between Switzerland and Italy. This dignified history is far removed from the factory production methods that lead it to end up as meat on a dinner plate.

Trevor Wheeler concludes: “The breeding of dogs for meat in China is an expanding and profitable business. Although certain breeding stocks are already established, there is always demand for new blood, and this is satisfied by the sale of Saint Bernard dogs from Europe and Russia. Once expansion of breeding programmes allows export to begin into Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Korea, there is no telling how many dogs will leave Europe to fuel a demand for the dinner table in China”.