[Cyber action EN/FR] New mass slaughter in Beijing starting on 07.11.06 / Nouvelle campagne d'abattage à Beijing début 07.11.06

[Guest guest]

ENGLISH / Please protest by sending a letter (below a few examples)

and forward this cyber action on

FRANCAIS / Merci de protester en envoyant une lettre (exemples

ci-dessous) et en relayant cette cyber action.

 

# 1. Present situation :

 

"

South China Morning Post http://china.scmp.com/chitoday/ZZZLYGW3PTE.html

Thursday, October 26, 2006 by JANE CAI

A national campaign against rabies has grown like wildfire this year -

more than 20 years after the last serious outbreak - resulting in the

slaughter of countless dogs.

In August, 50,000 dogs in Mouding county, Yunnan , were culled when the

county government received a report that three people had died

after being bitten by dogs in July and August.

More than 4,000 vaccinated dogs did not escape the slaughter because

the county government said it could not tell if the dogs were safe.

Vaccines help prevent rabies but do not work to treat the animal if it

has already caught the virus.

Health authorities say that when someone is bitten by a dog, they

should wash the wound for at least 15 minutes and quickly get a

rabies vaccine - treatment that should be effective.

The unchecked culls have met with strong criticism from international

animal protection organizations. The Humane Society of the United

States has offered to give China US$100,000 to vaccinate dogs if it

promises to immediately stop the mass slaughter. It also sent an open

letter to the Chinese ambassador in Washington to call for better ways

to address rabies control.

The central government has not yet responded to the offer.

In August, the city government in Jining, Shandong, killed all dogs

within a 5km radius of 16 villages following the death of 16 people

from rabies this year. Jining had 500,000 dogs but authorities did not

say how many were killed.

The killing continued last month, but government-hired teams ran into

opposition from farmers in Shangjiangcheng village, Dongguan, in

Guangdong.

After about a dozen dogs were killed, the farmers beat the hired teams

with iron bars, claiming their watchdogs had been culled.

In bigger cities the campaign is just starting. Beijing, Tianjin and

several other cities have recently started long-term projects to

inoculate dogs, close down illegal dog markets and punish residents if

their dogs bite people.

"

 

# 2. Sources :

 

Plan :

http://home.ani8.com/bbs/dispbbs.asp?boardID=30 & ID=6625 & page=1

 

Others :

http://home.ani8.com/bbs/dispbbs.asp?boardID=30 & ID=6625 & page=1

http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/3100/2006/10/26/271@...

http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/2906/2006/10/26/65@...

 

Pics (several pages) :

http://www.chinapet.net/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=754644 & postdays=0 & postorder=asc & start=0

 

# 3. To :

 

His Excellency, Hu Jintao

President of the People's Republic of China

9 Xihuang-Chenggen Beijie

Beijing

Peoples Republic of China

info

info

 

Chinese Government's Official Web Portal:

hzhang

webmaster

website: www.cnta.com

 

Head Office for Beijing Olympics 2008

2008 (AT) beijing-olympic (DOT) org.cn

 

 

pressoffice (AT) olympic (DOT) org

 

I urge everyone to contact the Olympic Committee Members, the Sponsors,

the President etc.... Go to this link and look at the bottom right hand

side:

http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/index_uk.asp

http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/ioc/index_uk.asp

 

Your embassy :

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/embassy_list.htm

 

Ambassade de Chine en France :

chinaemb_fr

 

FOR THOSE WHO WANNA CALL & PROTEST ABOUT 2008 IN CHINA

For more information please contact Emmanuelle Moreau, Communications

Manager for Institutional Affairs on +41 79 637 3017 or the IOC

Communications Department on +41 21 621 61 11 or visit our website at

www.olympic.org

 

 

# 4. Model of letter no 1 based on Peta's request dated 15

august 2006 :

 

"

Dear Sirs,

 

I have learned that a massive dog slaughter is going on in China,

especially in Beijing. One more time, I am shocked to learn how China

is handling the rabies and the dogs overpopulation problems.

 

By this letter, I join a Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of

Animals) 's request dated 15 August, 2006. This organization was asking

you to abandon the inadequate, expensive and time-consuming dog-killing

program and to instead focus on a humane, effective and permanent

rabies control solution.

 

Ingrid E. Newkirk, Peta's President and former chief of zoonotic

(animal-to-human transmission) disease control for the Washington,

D.C., Commission on Public Health, had the responsibility of ensuring

that the U.S. capital successfully maintain a humane and effective

rabies control program-and did so on a tight budget. In light of this

experience, she had respectfully suggest the immediate adoption of a

four-point program that will last for the long term:

1. Education is vital. People must be educated not to approach sick

animals and to keep children away from animals (not just dogs) who are

acting strangely. This can be done in schools and at workplaces and

community centers.

 

2. In the event of a bite, immediate post-exposure vaccination should

begin. It would be easy to make refrigerated rabies vaccines

accessible to all.

3. Any person who wishes to have a dog must register the dog with town

authorities, providing proof of sterilization and of an annual rabies

vaccination. Sterilization will stop the dog population from growing

and will eventually end the problem of strays, allowing easy control of

existing vaccinated populations.

 

4. If at any time a decision is made to destroy animals, the method

used must be one prescribed by international humane standards for

euthanasia.

 

As long as your country will not change its actual rabies control

program, I commit myself with :

- informing worldwide the chinese dogs slaughters

- boycotting Chinese tourism, commerce and the

2008 Olympic Games

 

Sincerely,

"

 

# 5. Model of letter no 2 from "Jill Robinson, founder and CEO of

Animals Asia Foundation, to the Mayor of Beijing" :

 

"Dear Mayor Mr. Wang Qishan,

 

We have heard about Beijing's recent massive dog cull targeting at big

breed dogs and unregistered dogs. We also received letters as well as

phone calls from many Beijing dog keepers who expressed their concern

over their dogs. We feel shocked and sad upon hearing this. As the

representative of Animals Asia Foundation, I hope Beijing municipal

government could give more consideration to the feelings of dog keepers

and dog lovers all over the world and find a more effective way to

manage the dogs in Beijing.

 

Animals Asia Foundation represents the animal welfare supporters all

over the world, supporting the government in protecting wild and

domestic animals and in formulating legislations against animal abuse

and cruelty. We understand your concern over lupomania.

 

However, according to what we have heard, the actions Beijing municipal

government is about to take will decimate not only the large breed dogs

but many small ones only because they exceed the one family one dog

quota. As the capital of China and the host city of 2008 Olympic Game,

such brutal way of handling dogs will only tar the international image

Beijing has.

 

Dogs have been more and more recognized by society as valuable members.

Especially in today's society, many couple who choose not to have

children and aged people living by themselves see their dogs as their

dearest companion and emotional support. In fact, a Beijing dog keeper

told us over the phone that they moved out from Beijing to other

provinces as they didn't have a child yet. They viewed their dog as a

family member. Another dog keeper said as a single child born in 1980s,

they seek emotional support and invaluable comfort from their dogs.

Only because their dogs exceed the size rule, they have to be separated

with their guardians. This will be a very difficult decision for many

families.

 

Though we understand the government's concern over city environment and

disease control, and the necessity to manage the dogs in Beijing, we

suggest a more effective, scientific and humane way to deal with it. It

is proven in many places in the world that lupomania could be

controlled by taking vaccination shots or de-sexing dogs. The

government could also launch an education campaign to educate some of

the inhumane dog keepers. As a Hong Kong based animal welfare group, we

are more than willing to offer our support and assistance in this area.

 

Keeping a companion animal (pet) is an irreversible trend in today's

world. People can afford to keep pets and they need pets as their

companion. Dogs have long been accepted by the human society. Dogs are

not only pets that can support their guardian family emotionally, but

can improve people's health. They play other wonderful and important

roles in our society, such as guiding the blind, helping people with

hearing difficulties, helping the police. Their smart noses can detect

hidden bombs, drugs and prohibited wild animals; they are also used to

find survivors of natural disasters.

 

Many large breed dogs such as Saint Bernard, Golden Retriever, Lapolado

are actually mild tempered. They can provide good service for the blind

and people with special needs. They are also wonderful family dogs.

Many large breed dogs work as Dr. Dog in the Dr. Dog project launched

by Animals Asia Foundation. Not so long ago a box success Laporlado Q

also featured a large breed Laporlado dog. We recommend Chinese

government to give more consideration when formulating dog keeping

rules and learn from other countries that ban dogs based on the

species' traits instead of simply by size.

 

More academic groups and more average people have started to respect

animal rights. There are also more animal welfare organizations

mushrooming in China. You must have learnt already that when Mou Ding

County's dog killing was exposed on the internet, numerous dog loving

individuals as well as organizations have expressed their rage towards

such atrocities. Many media outlets also criticized the barbaric

practice.

 

We strongly recommend Beijing municipal government to adopt more humane

and scientific measures to prevent the spread of lupomania and solve

dog-related social issues. Beijing government could also learn from

other Asian countries to provide more comprehensive protections to the

animals and educate the public on topics such as the prevention of

lupomania and management of stray dogs and cats. Dog keepers should

also be encouraged to take responsibilities. Animals Asia Foundation

and other animal welfare organizations will all be very happy to

cooperate with relevant Chinese government organizations.

 

Animals Asia Foundation is a Hong Kong based Non-for-Profit animal

welfare organization, who is engaged in stopping the bear bile practice

in Si Chuan with the help of China Wild Animal Protection Association

and Si Chuan Forestry Bureau. Last year we successfully launched Dr.

Dog program in Cheng Du. We have been paying close attention to the

animal welfare in China and received extensive support from Chinese

media and public.

 

We sincerely hope that relevant government organizations could have

more understanding and fully respect the companion animals' rights when

regulating Beijing's dogs to create a truly harmonious society.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Jill Robinson

Founder and CEO, Animals Asia Foundation

"

 

#6. Special thanks to Jill Li, JeZa Shobo, Maxine, Veronica for

provided information