China - animal rights and wrongs May 22, 2007
Posted by Rambling Man in World Affairs.trackback
I was quite shocked this morning to see a Sky news report on the disgraceful treatment of animals in some Chinese zoos. The report (and we were adequately warned) was quite graphic and showed the Chinese visitors and zoo keepers alike delighting in the live animal baiting where several huge Siberian tigers lazily attacked their live prey.
Picture the scene - at least 6 lazy and overweight tigers, fat from not having to run for their food suddenly perk up when they see the blue van roll into view. The van has to move through a circle of Chinese buses, crammed with camcorder toting tourists. They are as eager as the tigers - they can smell a kill. The trap door on the van pops open and a live cow pops out, looking dazed and confused. It is short-lived as two of the tigers pounce on it dragging it to the ground with two more jumping on its back as it tries in vain to run away. The crowd cheers and the cow moans its last breath, as excited fathers show their sons what life in the wild is really like …
The buses circle further, vending live poultry and small animals through openings in the side. The tigers chase the buses knowing that more food is on it’s way. One Chinese man, eager to show his new found spending power, pays the $10 to throw a live duck out the window to a waiting cat. Squeals of nervous excitement fill the air; squeals of death emanate from the bird - the women are impressed, the men brave.
The report cuts to Sky’s man on the bus - shocked as much by what he has seen outside as by the crazy, bloodthirsty attitude on the buses. The zoo keepers stop briefly to attach the still kicking carcass of the cow to a rope and hitch the rope to their truck. They speed off with the tigers in pursuit, honing their latent and long forgotten skills trying to paw meat from rope. Later we see a monkey so institutionalised that he continuously beats his head off a nearby tree. And a tigress who repeatedly walks up and down her cage all day long to relieve the deadening boredom … I could go on …
I was sickened. But also realistic. This is obviously perfectly acceptable in China and people pay good money to see it. What is acceptable to you and me, may not (and often is not) to him and her. And vice versa. What maddened me was the joy the parents took in pointing out the cow’s last desperate moments to their chattering children. “Look honey, did you see how that brave tiger tore the flesh from that silly cow’s neck with his teeth ?” Meanwhile the cow bleeds to death while other animals tear at its hind quarters. More cheering. A family day out, Beijing style.
If this is modern China, then you can have it. You have to know you have a problem before you can solve it and what country will be the first to say it to them ? What would the reaction be ?
Technorati tags : china : animal cruelty : animal rights : tigers : beijing
Well said! I saw the footage you mentioned too and found it both shocking and disgraceful. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain and fear those poor animals went through…
it was the enjoyment that the people and the parents got in the buses that struck a chord with me. those kids will now grow up thinking it’s OK to do such things.
There are far, FAR worse things going on in China in terms of animal rights abuses; bear bile farms to give just one example. But hopefully, as the country becomes more integrated economically and culturally with the rest of the world, animal issues will gain a higher profile.
Yeah, hopefully huh? Don’t bet on it. China has a long history, and if they haven’t reached the stage of appreciating another species’ pain and distress, they aren’t going to get there in a hurry. Let’s just face it, Chinese ‘culture’ is sick, undeveloped, fascistic and cruel.
When undercover investigators made their way onto Chinese fur farms recently, they found that many animals are still alive and struggling desperately when workers flip them onto their backs or hang them up by their legs or tails to skin them. When workers on these farms begin to cut the skin and fur from an animal’s leg, the free limbs kick and writhe. Workers stomp on the necks and heads of animals who struggle too hard to allow a clean cut. When the fur is finally peeled off over the animals’ heads, their naked, bloody bodies are thrown onto a pile of those who have gone before them. Some are still alive, breathing in ragged gasps and blinking slowly.
Some of the animals’ hearts are still beating five to 10 minutes after they are skinned. One investigator recorded a skinned raccoon dog on the heap of carcasses who had enough strength to lift his bloodied head and stare into the camera. http://www.furisdead.com/feat/ChineseFurFarms/