AR-News: (US MA) A roar from animal activists in China

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

The Boston Globe
May 16, 2004
A Public outcry halts bullfighting proar from animal activists in China
BEIJING -- ''Foreign Bulls Head for the Middle Kingdom."
''Spanish Matadors Pack Their Bags for Beijing."
''Local Promoters Salivate Over the Prospect of Bloodthirsty Crowds."
The headlines said it all: Bullfighting was coming to China.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the bullring. In a country known for 
its often-brutal treatment of animals and its anything-goes capitalism, a 
public outcry halted the project in its tracks. Chagrined promoters are not 
talking, while emboldened activists voice hope that their win will help spur new 
laws to strengthen animal rights.
''This is a very significant victory," said Zhang Luping, head of the Beijing 
Human and Animal Environmental Education Center. ''It shows that ordinary 
people's voices can be heard in China and that policies can be changed."
The treatment of animals in China still leaves much to be desired. For-profit 
zoos often mistreat them, selling unwanted ones as exotic restaurant fare and 
feeding live animals to other beasts for visitors' amusement
There are thriving markets in ivory, fur, and various endangered-species 
parts for virility treatments. And live bears are ''milked" of their bile, used 
for medicine, with implanted catheters puncturing their gallbladders.
But animal rights groups say the attitudes of average Chinese are quickly 
changing.
Driving the shift, animal rights groups say, are economic, social, and 
cultural factors that suggest how quickly China is adapting to global sensibilities. 
''As people's lifestyles have improved, they've become more and more 
sensitive toward animals," said Wang Shi, secretary general of the Chinese Culture 
Promotion Society, a government-linked civic group.
New social structures also have heightened respect for the birds and the 
beasts. As growing numbers of people move from the countryside into urban 
apartments, the average family size is declining and the number of people living alone 
is rising.
This has spurred pet ownership as animals take on the role of companions. 
Beijing officials got a taste of the new attitude when they sought to discourage 
pet ownership through high license fees in 1995, a policy that was largely 
reversed under pressure from outspoken residents.
Activists and sociologists point out that harsh treatment of animals is not a 
Chinese tradition, at least not an old one. Rural culture has for centuries 
respected animals, which are seen as an important part of local life, the 
economy, and people's hopes for success.

full story:
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2004/05/16/a_roar_from_animal_a
ctivists_in_china 


 

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    "The day may come when the rest of the animal creation may acquire those 
rights which never could have been withholden from them but by the hand of
tyranny. - Jeremy Bentham 1748 - 1832 
The question is not can they REASON, nor can they TALK, but can they SUFFER?" 
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