China: Howls over new 1 dog policy(People urged to inform on each other;fears of police searches)

News 24 (South Africa) / AFP ^ | December 1, 2006

[Stoat]

Howls over new 1 dog policy

01/12/2006 16:51  - (SA)  

Beijing - Amid fears of police storming into homes and calls for neighbours to inform on each other, a controversial new "one dog" policy in China's capital is eliciting howls of anger from pooch lovers.

Beijing authorities, concerned by the growing number of dogs in the city and a rising incidence of rabies, have decreed that households can raise only one canine.

Dogs taller than 35cm have been banned, and all dogs must now be registered and vaccinated or face being taken from their owners.

While the new rules themselves have angered Beijing's dog owners, fear of old-style Communist Party discipline being used to enforce the policy has also raised hackles.

In an echo of the tumultuous 10-year cultural revolution that turned friends and relatives against each other, the city government urged residents to monitor their neighbours and inform on them if they keep rogue dogs.

"Any individual has the right to criticise ... anyone who is doing anything against the regulations, and report them to the residential committee, the village committee or the relevant department," the policy stated.

Residents are also worried that police may begin entering and searching homes, a common enough problem for human rights activists in communist China but not normally a fear for middle-class pet owners.

"People are scared that the police will actually start coming into homes and confiscate dogs," said a man surnamed Li, one of about 100 dog breeders at Beijing's Aisida canine market.

Police have insisted that all illegal dogs will be handled humanely, but few owners believe them, rather fearing that seized dogs could be put in sacks and beaten to death with sticks, as has happened in earlier campaigns, or even buried or burned alive.

According to Beijing press reports, there are around one million dogs in Beijing, only 550 000 of which are registered.

[Stoat]

Please also see: 

Beijing gets 'one dog policy' (Response to sharp rise in human rabies deaths; 2,254 over past 9 mos)

**************************************************

From the article:

Police have insisted that all illegal dogs will be handled humanely, but few owners believe them, rather fearing that seized dogs could be put in sacks and beaten to death with sticks, as has happened in earlier campaigns, or even buried or burned alive.

It seems that the "Officer Friendly" program that I remember from elementary school in Seattle didn't quite make it to China.

 

[pgkdan]

Amid fears of police storming into homes and calls for neighbours to inform on each other, a controversial new "one dog" policy in China's capital is eliciting howls of anger from pooch lovers.

How many can they eat at a time?

[End Times Sentinel]

How short sighted.  I mean, one dog is fine for a small family, but what if you're having the extended family over?  Are they supposed to prepare their dog dishes at home and bring them over? 

Have you ever tasted roasted dog that's cooled on the rick-shah ride over to grandmother's house?

Owl_Eagle

If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.

[Lexington Green]

"Any individual has the right to criticise ... anyone who is doing anything against the regulations, and report them to the residential committee, the village committee or the relevant department," the policy stated.

Just like Americans who turn in each other... for smoking

[Sam's Army]

Worse than that...epidemic utensil shortages for eating it.

[N. Theknow]

Anyone having more than one pooch must wok the dog.

[RobRoy]

"The cops are coming! Quick, eat the other dog!!!"

[RobRoy]

I had to do that to a bag of kittens before a trip to disneyland a couple of decades ago.

I used one of those "mini-bats" you used to get as you entered a Mariners game.

[MaryFromMichigan]

Nobody can eat just one...

[OB1kNOb]

China Announces Strick Food Rationing Policy

[RobRoy]

People stare at me when I laugh in my cube!

Knock it off!!! ;)

[Lexington Green]

Puppy-On-A-Stick ... The new Olympic snackfood

[PlanoMike]

China Social Enineering

Yesterday 1 Kid

Today 1 Dog

Tomorrow 1 Handicapped Relative

Day After Tomorrow 1 Elderly Relative

[PlanoMike]

Make that Engineering

[Stoat]

China Social Enineering

Coming soon to the West, if the Left gets their way.

[Dog]

What the hell?

[Dog]

That is sick...

[Stoat]

Just like Americans who turn in each other... for smoking

It's getting to that point, isn't it? 

[6SJ7]

35cm?! That is about 14 inches high. Even if measured to the shoulder, there are not many breeds other than the miniature types that are only about 1 foot high. That might make for a pretty funny 'junk yard dog'. I can just see this giant warehouse guarded by one underfed chihuahua. (Actually, come to think of it, that might be rather terrifying.)

[-YYZ-]

"What the hell?"

Ditto to that. Everyone knows that the proper way to dispose of a bag of kittens is to drown them (/sarc). Actually, although it sounds horrible, if done properly I can't imagine they would suffer for very long, which is more than I can say for beating them to death.