EXPORTING DOGS TO THE FAR EAST

 

The Bull Terrier Club has great concerns over the number of Bull Terriers being exported to the Far East and feel that Breeders should consider the long term welfare of such exports and that of their progeny, especially in Countries where Animal Rights and Welfare Organisations are non existent.

 

P Rawlings

Hon. Secretary

The Bull Terrier Club

ALARM OVER BULL TERRIERS EXPORTED TO CHINA.

 

 

 I was very concerned when I recently read in The Kennel Club Breed Supplement, spring Edition, from January to March this year that four Bull Terriers have been exported to China in the first quarter of this year.  The Bull Terrier Club does not know three of the breeders, but we know the other one. It is a well-known fact that there is no Animal Cruelty laws in China and that dog meat is considered a delicacy.  The concern is not so much with these four dogs themselves, as they may be going to good homes, but what about the progeny?  Around 100 Bull Terriers end up in Welfare here in the UK, and we are a country renowned to be dog lovers. There are no welfare societies in China, and certainly no S.P.C.A.’s or P.D.S.A.’s.  Hanzhong city in China recently began a city-wide dog cull, indiscriminately beating thousands of dogs to death in the streets.

 

Dog meat is now banned in Hong Kong but it is estimated that 10 million dogs are slaughtered every year in Mainland China as well as many other species of wild and domesticated animals also used for Chinese medicine.  They are farmed in concentrated numbers and then up to 2000 dogs at a time are transported in trucks. Each small cage crammed with dogs, so there is not an inch to spare and transported for up to three days, during this time they are not fed or watered.  When they arrive, these cages are thrown down from the trucks from a height of up to 30 feet, and in the process, bones are broken and some are killed in the process, they are the lucky ones, what waits the rest is even more horrific.

 

 

When they arrive at the wholesale Hua Nam Wild Animal Market in Guangzhou they are let loose out of the cages where they usually fight through fear, hunger and desperation to survive, while awaiting a horrendously slow death in order to provide meat for restaurants. There are large numbers of dead and diseased dogs in the cages. Part of the process of slaughter is to skin them alive and throw their writhing bodies into boiling water; the Chinese believe this helps to make the meat tastier and can take up to ten minutes for the dog to die.

 

Diseases such as parvovirus, canine distemper and leptospirosis are rife and spread like wildfire in dogs whose immune systems are already low due to depression and starvation.

 

The dog meat [and fur] trade is becoming increasingly industrialized and is even promoted by the government in some provinces. Huge dog farms have been developed and giant gentle breeds, like the St. Bernard, have been imported to be cross-bred with the local Chinese mongrel to produce a fast growing, docile “meat dog” that can be slaughtered at 4 months. Livestock sections of large bookshops stock books and DVD's on dog farming which promote the horrific slaughter methods, in the misguided belief that the more the dog suffers the better the meat will taste. Consequently, vacuum packed and canned dog meat are becoming increasingly available in some supermarkets.

 

The scale of the cruelty is immense, but a recent survey by Animals Asia on China’s largest Internet portal - Sina.com - had over 5,000 responses from concerned Chinese people and showed that many are passionately against the idea of eating our “best friends”.

 

In the meantime, I would urge any breeder to think twice about sending a dog to China, for until they ban dog meat and indeed establish animal cruelty laws, you could just be contributing to this gross market.

 

This article was researched on the Internet by Lesley Dunbar using the following sites

 

http://www.animalsasia.org/

 

http://www.chinasucks.org/xichang.htm

 

http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/dog.html

 

http://www.dogmeattrade.com/library_articles/international_dmt.html