I read the other day about a zoo in China who have tour buses that go round and watch groups of tigers attacking live cows, sheep and chickens. The little kids can pay to release a hatch in the bus that lets the chickens come out. My eye then strayed to a picture of four policeman beating a dog to death with sticks because it was too big and people are only allowed to keep small dogs. The most horrific by far was the fact that they skin dogs and cats alive to use the fur for toys and when they are for the pot, they think if the animal suffers, the meat will taste better. What a sadistic, barbaric country. What can we do about this and how can we stop this horrific cruelty?

I hate to hear about any form of cruelty to animals it makes my blood boil! It goes on around the world all too much ggrrrrs!For example bear 'dancing' and the like. I don't think that it will ever stop as the people doing these atrocious things obviously think that it's 'ok' and do not see animals as living things that can suffer and feel pain. In some countries children must be brought up to think that this is amusing and a good thing to do (as you said getting the children to release the chickens and find it funny)! so it just carries on down generations. (Some countries are/have been just as barbaric to their people so the animals don't stand a chance) Hearing things like this really gets me wound up!

How would they like skinning! Gimme the knife.

I am by no means condoning any actions in China. I have two things to say, however:
1.This week in the Gloucester Citizen I read of a person going scot free though they had been caught slitting the throats of live kittens.
2.The SPCA plays an active part in China and many societies are doing what they can, rather than standing on the sidelines shouting and condemning. Many Chinese people are animal lovers too. Many keep pets and love them very much. As people here have said you cannot condemn the whole country.

Yes that is true.. I heard a report in England a few weeks ago of five goats being killed on a farm. It's terrible and it really does go on everywhere

Hello God. Where are you?

I did not intend to offend anyone and I apologise if I did. I was trying to get a conversation going about the atrocities in China. I know there is plenty of animal cruelty in the UK and I am a member of the SSPCA as well as the WWF so I don't by any means stand on the sidelines, I was just completely horrified when I read the stories.

As has been pointed out, animal cruelty happens in many countries, if not all countries. It is just not fair to single out one country.

I agree with you, this is horrible and is really happening! No need to bury our heads in the sand and ignore it. I don't know what can be done to stop it since it has been going on for many years. I watched a video the other day on Youtube about the Chinese fur trade, and it made me very upset to see how dogs and cats were tortured. It's wrong and needs to be stopped, but how?

Maybe we should be concentrating on how to stop inhumane treatment of animals and humans in our own countries before we start on others.

Just to add that, if you went out into the villages in China where this sort of thing happens, and you showed your horror at it, they would most likely be amazed. Many people have no idea what you mean. They have never been told this is wrong. When you think of the billions of people there it is indeed an incredible problem. It needs stiff legislation and huge publicity campaigns translated into god knows how many hundreds of languages. A sobering thought indeed.
However, very few people would dream of leaving their child alone, or beating it, or subjecting it to some of the intolerable treatment that children get in the West. Generalising again, maybe , but cruelty to children is fairly rare I think.

Whilst we find this abhorent,we have to accept that different cultures don't hold dogs and cats in the same regard we do in the west.This is so shocking,because those animals are pets to us.
To emphasise my point(i am not condoning this practice),how do you think hundreds of millions of Indian people feel about us butchering their sacred animal for beef?


Jon

I feel that there is a world of difference between animals being killed 'humanely' for food and just being killed 'for the fun of it' or because they are an inconvenience (e.g unwanted litters etc) It's fair enough that people need to kill animals to eat but skinning them alive or killing them in some other inhumane way is wrong, no matter which animal is it, dog cat cow whichever!

If there is a severe animal cruelty case here people are shocked and upset, whereas in some places it seems to be more accepted and a way of life to treat animals badly. (i'm not saying everybody and every animal just certain things that occur) I doubt you would see a lot of zoos allowing wild animals to eat other ones for entertainment!

I know that this goes on in every country in the world but again, a difference between isolated events and practices that become the 'norm'

This is just what I think and it's an issue I feel very strongly about.

I'm pretty sure that they know it's wrong, the animals must be screaming in the most unbelievable pain, when they are being skinned alive from the paws up. Okay if their "culture" is to eat cats and dogs, fair enough but kill them humanely, as we do cows and sheep. What they are doing is torturing innocent animals and that is the subject I was talking about not children but animals. Even if it does need stiff legislation and huge publicity campaigns, so be it, that was what I meant when I said what can we do.

I would have thought the most effective way is through economic boycott. I've had a quick look on the net and there are various organisations advocating boycotting Chinese products for an assortment of reasons, including but not confined to cruelty to animals, human rights abuses and anti communism. Trouble is, some of the organisations seem a bit rabid for my tastes.

You could try setting up your own campaign - set up a website, distribute leaflets, contact stores to ask that they don't stock Chinese goods. There are so many goods that come from China that the task is immense. While a teenager may be overcome with emotion at the thought of fluffy pets being eaten, try getting them to stop shopping in Primark or Top Shop! There are also conflicts of interest - a lot of the rubbish that we recycle ends up in China - do we stop recycling? Any economic boycott hits the poorest workers first and hardest, which is also another point to consider.

Also, don't forget that you'd need to let Chinese officialdom know that you're advocating a boycott, and why you are doing so. One hundred individual letters are much more valuable than a thousand signatures on a petition.

Edited to add: I must have been posting at the same time as Sue!

I was under the impression that a forum was a place that you could express your opinion without being shot down in flames.
I was genuinely asking what we could do about it and I didn't have a clue how to go about setting up a campaign, or an economic boycott but thanks to Supersal, now I have.

I don't think you have been shot down in flames. This is a site called FunTrivia, that is to say we deal in fun and in trivia. Heavy subjects really do not have a place here.

What did upset a few people was your blanket condemnation of a whole country, it comes over almost as being racist. I am sure that wasn't your intention and it was pointed out to you that cruelty takes place everywhere, not just in China. How about the seal cull in Canada, now that comes over as being cruel too but we don't condemn the whole of Canada. If you haven't read about the seal culls then this article from the BBC explains it. I can remember newspaper campaigns dating back to my teenage years, but it still goes on today.

I look forward to your report on what action you have taken, and the responses you get.

Yes Sue, I've heard of the seal culls in Canada,the plight of bears in Russia and the Tigers being wiped out again by the Chinese for their "medicines" but there is nothing that compares to the cruelty to the dogs and cats. That is my opinion and I know that animal cruelty takes place everywhere but all I wanted to know was what other people thought about it. Now that I know that heavy subjects don't have a place here, I won't post another one.

I don't want to start a flame war but your wording in your topic would have been better as "China's" abominable cruelty to animals as there are other Chinese in the world that are not China mainland Chinese. But that's going off the point.

A little background on me. I am Taiwanese-Chinese. I currently live in China. I am also an American citizen raised in the US.

First, before the flames start here, I just want to say, I apologize now if this becomes too deep.

That all being said, there is a lot of things in China that I do not agree with. Many "traditions" here are "different". But, what some people do not understand is that most of the people do NOT know any better. With the 1.2 billion people in China, a large majority are uneducated. I, personally, haven't heard about the zoo you, Rambler, are speaking of. Nor, would I visit such places. But, what I think they really need is the education that many people take for granted (I know I did for a while). This is what they know...it has been passed down from generation to generation. My point is they truly may NOT know it's wrong.. even hearing the screams and howls of pain made by the animals.

I would like to see the article you read if you don't mind, Rambler. Good luck in your attempt to make a difference. Please keep me posted in what you do. I would like to help in any way I can, if I can.

Outside all that, there are human rights problems in China as well (and also worldwide, but thread started as China's take on things)...But as HeyPo said, that's a whole different thread..

Note: I'm not condemning all of China. I have a great many "local" friends here who are the nicest people I've ever met in all my travels around the world. Just putting in my 2 cents.

I don't think its just China. I think their is cruelness to animals all over the World and our states in USA. What we need to do is clear our country of it before we tell others to do any thing.

This is horrific, I know, I also hate it but it,ll take a long time, or it may never be done.

That was beautifully and eloquently put, Vy lette. Kudos!

Thanks bionic.. just putting in my 2 cents.. though I know I tend to ramble a bit sometimes. Took me longer to edit that than to write it.. hehe.