Bejing large scaled dog killing campaign ....

[Animal 0]

From 7th November 2006, Beijing Municipal government will start a large scaled dog killing campaign ---before that date is the Sino-African Beijing Summit and Beijing Municipal government is reluctant to distract the police power from the summit. It is hard to estimate how many dogs will be killed in this campaign.

This dog killing campaign aims to engage all social forces; according to the reliable sources, this campaign will be coordinated directly within the government.

According to the government¡¯s plan, the ¡° dog regulating work¡± will be phased in three stages:

I. Planning and deployment. From the second half of October, the district will hold a dog keeping management meeting, in which the dog regulating work will be deployed to the sub level. During this meeting, the district authorities should have a clear knowledge on the number of dogs in the area and pass the action plan for dog regulating.
II. Awareness campaign. Government organizations will launch an awareness campaign on dog regulating and the coming actions through the media. The campaign will focus on introducing the background, identifying the priority and setting goals. The government is determined to solve the dog related social issues. Meanwhile, the government will also send out pamphlets on the health risks unregulated dogs poses to human beings and calling for civilized dog keeping.
III. Tracking and searching. The government will relegate the power to local community Party organizations to enter dog keepers¡¯ homes and organizations to check the exact number of unregistered dogs and dogs that are not properly vaccinated. The local Party organization also aims to have a thorough knowledge on the number of stray dogs, large breed dogs, families who keep more than one dogs, dogs that disturb the neighborhood and dogs that do not obey the allowed walking hours, dogs that mess the environment, dog farms, dog markets and pet hospitals. All the information will be listed in detail and reported to the Dog Keeping Administration Office. Dog keepers will be registered as well.
IV. Enhancing the examination. Public security, agricultural organizations, Industry and Commerce organization as well as urban administration office jointly issue a notice to further the implementation of the dog keeping regulations. All the unregulated phenomena such as unregistered dogs, walking dogs beyond the allowed hours, dogs that are not vaccinated, keeping large breed dogs in prohibited areas or keeping more than one dogs, organizations or companies conducting their business beyond the allowance of their business license, littering in the public will be strictly prohibited.
V. Self examination. Government organizations at all levels and the competent authorities should record down the detailed information of all the dog keepers and give vaccination shots to all dogs. Such practice as keeping more than one dog or keeping large breed dogs will be prohibited. Dog keepers have 7 days to correct their practices and send large breed dogs to the countryside as required. The public opinion should be so powerful that dog keepers have to register their dogs or vaccinate them. Large breed dogs should be kept in the countryside within one¡¯s courtyard. Small sized dogs that are kept in the city are not allowed to enter public places.

Stage II: law enforcement (7 november---30 november)

The nine priority areas will be focused one after another in the second stage. During the law enforcement process, all the law enforcing agencies should take initiative and work proactively to respond rapidly to the hot issues highlighted through the press or mentioned by the district leaders. The law enforcing agencies should also respond the reports from other people in a timely manner and the press will give due exposure to the unregulated dog keeping behaviours. Throughout the district 7 battles should be combated against unregulated dog keeping.

Battle 1 (law enforcement checking at a different place): 7-9th November, 17 law enforcement groups will be selected in the district and sent to work at a different location. Journalists could accompany the policemen and work together.

Battle II: (Public security takes the lead): 10-14, November, the public security takes the lead and other agencies join forces focusing on the unregistered dogs, large breed dogs and multiple dogs in one family in the key areas.

Battle III: (Urban administration office takes the lead): 15-17th, Urban Administration Office takes the lead and other agencies join forces focusing on the dogs wrecking harms on the environment and public hygiene and unlawful activities such as peddling puppies without licenses.

Battle IV: ( Commerce and Industry organization takes the lead): Commerce and Industrial organization takes the lead and other agencies cooperate to thoroughly examine dog markets, dog hospitals, dog stores and dog farms.

Battle V (Agricultural agency takes the lead): 20-24, November, agricultural agency takes the lead and other agencies cooperate to examine
the vaccination status of all the dogs registered in the district and catch stray dogs and cats.

Battle VI ( key communities law enforcement battle) : 25, 26, November, a comprehensive law enforcement activities will take place mainly in Jade City, Rui Hai Jia Yuan, Qsingtao Jia Yuan, Yu Hua Yuan, Xing Zheng Dong Li, Xing Zheng Xi Li, Xuan Yi Jia Yuan, Qing Yi Yuan Community, Brave New World Community.

Battle VII ( Key issues battle): 27-30 November, focusing on the remaining issues and transferring personnel between different locations to thoroughly check and examine.

Stage III: Review and final check
I. Set up a review group. District Dog Keeping Administration Office will set up a review group to review and check the dog administration work done by the local communalities. 2. Final check the dog keeping situation. Based on the three stages of the district¡¯s dog keeping tasks, the review group will set up some concrete criteria for the local communities and they should review and final check the work in the light of the criteria. 3. When implementing the law, local communities will hold workshops when necessary to identify existing problems and promote good practices. 4. summarize the result, questions, experiences and practices and communicate effectively within the district. 5. When the campaign is finished, local Dog Keeping Administration Offices should report the campaign achievement timely and carry on the work for the future.


Dogs are our friends. Beijing¡¯s dog killing campaign has sent alarming signals to the relevant organizations. However, the atmosphere is getting tense¡­the stray dogs caught in this movement have been cruelly bludgeoned. (see attached picture).

The following is a letter from Jill Robinson, founder and CEO of Animals Asian Foundation, to the Mayor of Beijing. ( Translated back into English from the Chinese version of the letter)

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 Asian 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 Asian 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 to Beijing from other provinces and they didn¡¯t have 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 human 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 uncivilized 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 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 human society. Dogs are not only pets that can support their guarding 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 Asian 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 who 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 Asian Foundation and other animal welfare organizations will all be very happy to cooperate with relevant Chinese government organizations.

Animals Asian 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





Beijing dog keepers are ready to take the streets at 11 O¡¯ clock on 11 November 2006 against the 35 cm rule. It¡¯s hard to tell the outcome of the demonstration. Besides, from now till the day of demonstration, many dogs will lose their lives!

We pledge for your attention on the massive dog cull in Beijing and save them from this pitiful lot! Stopping the dog cull in Beijing can also educate the rest of Chinese cities to prevent a national dog cull.

We have no idea what leads to this dog cull. If it is for the Olympics then we will fight against Olympics! Olympics Games can not and should not be achieved through killings and blood!

God protect you and your colleagues and God protects Beijing¡¯s dogs!

I, representing all the dog keepers and dog lovers as well as everyone who appreciates life in Beijing, ask for your help!

For pictures on dog cull, go to
http://www.chinapet.net/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=754644&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

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