China’s massacre of dogs reminder of larger problem

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, August 3, 2006

The recent slaughter of 50,000 dogs in an anti-rabies crackdown in southwestern China was so brutal even the state media opined against it.

The five-day massacre in Yunnan province’s Mouding county was ordered after 360 of the county’s 200,000 residents were reportedly bit by dogs this year and three people died of rabies. Officials responded by sending killing teams into villages. Dogs being walked were taken from their owners and beaten to death. Owners were offered 70 cents to kill their own animal.

The official newspaper Legal Daily called the killings “extraordinarily crude, cold-blooded and lazy way for the government to deal with epidemic disease.” True. Not to mention it’s not an effective way to prevent disease.

The horrifying incident- the animals rights group PETA has predictably called for a boycott of all things Chinese – can’t be allowed for one second to overshadow the fact that human beings are routinely mistreated, tortured and put to death in that country.

Human rights groups report that tens of thousands of people continue to be imprisoned for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association or religion. Activists, human rights defenders and Internet users are arrested on “subversion” charges. Children and workers are not protected by labor laws. The list goes on and on. The slaughter of dogs is a symptom of a society desperately in need of rights – for all.