Activists save Chinese dogs from cooking pot
Hundreds of dogs being trucked to Chinese restaurants were spared a
culinary fate after about 200 animal lovers mobilised to stop them
ending up on dinner tables, state-run media said Monday.
A truck crammed with the dogs was forced to stop Friday on a highway
in eastern Beijing by a motorist who swerved his car in front of the
truck and then used his microblog to alert animal-rights activists,
reports said.
The dogs, many apparently stolen from their owners, were being
transported from the central Chinese province of Henan to restaurants in
Jilin province in the northeast, the China Daily said. It said 430 dogs
were rescued, while the Global Times put the number at 520.
Eventually, about 200 animal lovers and activists gathered around the
truck in eastern Beijing and after a 15-hour standoff that jammed
traffic the dogs were freed early Saturday when an animal-protection
group purchased them for 115,000 yuan ($17,600), the Global Times said.
The interception of the dogs was the latest bold action by pet-lovers in
China, where growing awareness of animal rights is colliding with
centuries-old culinary practices.
There have been regular reports in recent years of citizens
attempting to block trucks carrying hundreds or even thousands of cats
to meat markets in southern China, where cat meat is particularly
popular. The China Daily quoted activists saying many of the dogs still
had collars with bells and name tags, indicating they had been stolen
from their owners and that the trucking company transported a load of
dogs to Jilin each week.
The consumption of dog and cat meat, both of which are believed to
promote bodily warmth and are thus popular in winter, remains widespread
in China despite a surge in popularity as pets.
However, earlier press reports have said authorities were looking
into drafting a law that could outlaw the practice. AFP
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