Looking for evidence
By Sharon St. Joan, Best Friends NetworkIn 2006, there was a massive killing of dogs in China by the authorities. In October a demonstration in front of the Beijing Zoo by dog owners and several Chinese animal welfare groups helped bring an end to the killing of the dogs.
There are a number of reports now circulating on the internet about the large-scale killing of cats in Beijing. However, unlike the situation in 2006, there is no clear confirmation from inside China that this is indeed happening.
There appears to have been some rounding up of cats over several months, and there do appear to be camps to which cats have been taken.
Irene Zhang, Manager of Animal Rescue Beijing, and a friend of Best Friends, has written that Ms. Wu, the Founder of Animal Rescue Beijing, has talked with the managers of the parks in Beijing, and was told that they are no longer seeing cats being trapped by the authorities, and that that activity has stopped.
Irene Zhang also reports that animal advocates have been talking with authorities about the conditions in the camps for the street cats, and have "received quite a good response". They were told that all homeless cat colonies that are being cared for by volunteers, in which the cats are spayed/neutered, would not be interfered with, and that those cats would not be trapped.
None of the animal welfare groups in China is raising the alarm about the situation of the cats. There is no indication on their websites that anything out of the ordinary is taking place.
The Daily Mail articleOn Monday, March 10, 2008, an article appeared in the U.K. Daily Mail, entitled, "Olympics clean-up Chinese style: Inside Beijing's shocking death camp for cats" by Simon Perry.
Within the past 24 hours there have appeared any number of articles on the internet. A Google search found that all of these were reprints of the same article, with the same photos.
On the list serve of AAPN (Asian Animals Protection Network) Merritt Clifton, of Animal People, has posted some astute observations:
The rounding up of homeless cats in China seems similar to what occurs everyday in many U.S. and European cities.
The Chinese authorities are warning of diseases that may be transmitted by cats to humans. Warnings like this are commonly issued in many western cities.
No evidence is given for the assertion that people are dumping their pets in the streets out of fear of disease.
Unfounded charges?If cats in the camps are actually suffering from disease, it would not be surprising if some of them died. That does not mean that they are being herded into "death camps."
There may be mismanagement of shelters, and crisis situations among the cats, just as there were last year in several large U.S. cities.
The retired doctor described in the article as living in her "tiny home" with 250 cats appears to be a hoarder. Much of the information in the article is attributed to her.
One of the photos in the article is very disturbing and shows cats clearly in a very abusive situation. However, there is no indication of when, where, or in what circumstances the photo was taken. Another photo shows a building, presumably meant to be the location of one of the "death camps". However, no cats are visible in the photo.
No suggestion at all is being made that rounding up of cats is acceptable. Of course, it isn't. The mistreatment or suffering of any animal is terrible, and should not be happening. If a single animal suffers, that is suffering that should not be.
But, before we throw stones across the pond, we may want to see if we're living in a glass house, as the saying goes. In every country in the world, there is both cruelty and kindness to animals.
The heroic animal groups in ChinaThere does not seem to be any confirmation, so far, that a massive round-up and killing of cats is taking place in China. There is no indication that that is happening. Animal welfare organizations in China are not calling for any urgent help.
If the situation changes, or if Best Friends receives any confirmed news of killing of cats prior to the Olympics, we will post that immediately.
Either way, calls for boycotting the Olympics or for boycotting Chinese products seem misplaced. Boycotts are not always an effective tactic. They may be unjust and inappropriate. As a practical matter, boycotting a popular event such as the Olympics may not advance the cause of animals or animal groups in any way--and could work against the animal groups and the animals.
Well over thirty very active, dedicated, and highly effective animal welfare groups are working hard in China, courageously fighting for the well-being of animals. Helping them in their work and giving them support is the very best way to advance the cause of animals in China!
Photo: © Vladimir Georgievsky | Dreamstime.comHow you can helpThese are the websites of a few of the animal groups in China:
Animals Asia
http://www.animalsasia.org/ActAsia
http://www.actasia.orgAnimal Rescue Beijing
http://www.arbchina.orgThe AAPN (Animals Asia Protection Network), based in Hong Kong, covers international news of animals:
http://www.aapn.org/Outside China, the U.S.-based Animal People covers news about animals all over the world:
http://www.animalpeoplenews.org