China Dogs - by Elly Maynard, Chairperson/Founder of Sirius Global Animal Organization

In 1998, 10 Saint Bernard dogs from Europe and the USA were exported to China for dog meat trials, along with Great Danes and Tibetan Mastiffs. As a result, the Chinese Government declared the Saint Bernard to be "The Meat Dog of Choice" advertising its aphrodisiac qualities in business brochures designed to encourage the farming of these highly intelligent animals. Large breeding farms were set up supported by web sites detailing rearing and housing requirements, and spelling out the financial benefits of farming the Saints for table meat.

Dog eating died out during the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76 when Red Guards rampaged through the country killing dogs even those raised for food - because they were regarded as a bourgeoise extravagance.

Since that era, the importation of the Saint Bernard’s has prompted a resurgence of dog meat farms. There is now an estimated 25,000 Saint Bernard’s in China plus thousands of German Shepherds, Dalmatians, Newfoundlands, Leonbergers being bred for food and fur. Information recently received (July 2002) now confirms that Chinese dog farmers believe that in a few short years, Saint Bernard’s will become as prolific as sheep and cattle.

Dog farms are springing up all over China. In one area, Peixian, 300,000 dogs are slaughtered annually. One-dog farmer raises 100,000 dogs a year, almost all for slaughter at about 6 months of age.

Crossing a Saint Bernard or Dalmatians with a local breed dog produces two litters of eight to ten puppies a year. Each crossbred puppy grows to about 50 kg in 5 months. There were commercial breeders for cows and pork in China, but not dogs until Saint Bernard breeders appeared on the scene. They have proliferated, partly due to Government funding. These farms are also setting up web sites asking for investors from the United States and other countries to help them expand their operations.

Because of Western abhorrence to the practice of eating dogs, Chinese businessmen had difficulty procuring them. This led them to negotiate with foreign companies to import stud dogs. Buyers of the Saint Bernard’s include farmers and small businessmen who come from all over China, hoping to make some money on the side by breeding dogs. They are drawn by ads boasting of a high rate of return, three times as profitable as poultry, and four times as profitable as raising pigs. There are no animal welfare organizations in China and the dogs are subjected to the most inhumane treatment imaginable. Videos show slaughter methods that are too horrific for general release to the media.

Some methods are:

Pouring boiling water over the live animal to increase the adrenaline production. Their throat is cut and the meat left to dry. Holes are cut in the paws. The animal is then left to bleed to death. This takes 10 minutes or so but makes the meat taste better. Legs broken the night before slaughter then the dog is skinned alive the next morning. Beating with sticks and slow strangulation/blow torching.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has a complete list of all livestock etc, and through its member countries, has the power to classify dogs as not for human consumption. Dogs do not appear on the FAOSTAT List yet China (an FAO member country) has unilaterally classified them as livestock.

A Petition asking that the dogs be classified as not for human consumption, and signed and supported by over 4.5 million people globally, was presented to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome November 2nd 2001. A reply received from the FAO United Nations states " There are no rules at an international level that prohibit the commercialization of dogs as slaughter animals. Codex Alimentarius defines meat as the edible part of any slaughter animal slaughtered in an abattoir and includes edible offal". (There are no commercially run "abattoirs" for dogs in China; they are slaughtered in backyards).

This is not an acceptable response and the FAO United Nations has not even alerted its member countries to the fact that the world's largest petition for animals has been received. The FAO United Nations has stated that a member country can discuss such matters at either an FAO Council or Conference yet they have failed to do anything.

Australia is one country that has taken a lead in this issue. At the end of last year, through the Australian National Kennel Council, they formally legislated against the export of dogs from Australia to any country where they are consumed as food. Dogs can only be sold to registered members of Kennel Clubs for showing, or breeding to enhance the breed for shows only.

Governments are quick to cite cultural reasons for failing to address this issue, however the First Secretary of the Chinese Embassy in Wellington New Zealand (June 18th 2002) stated in an interview that this new venture with the Saint Bernard’s and other Western/European breed dogs has nothing to do with "culture"; it is purely a money-making venture.

Never before in the history of this world have domestic 'companion animals (dogs) ' been exported from one country to another as food, and it is now clear that China has no intention of stopping this trade. The logical solution is for each country to impose its own ban on all dogs going to any country where they are bred and consumed as food.

We owe dogs this protection given the close relationship which has developed with humans over thousands of years. Dogs have provided man with friendship, companionship, protection, and service as working animals over the decades.

Will the 21st Century be remembered as the time when domestic companion animals were forced to become livestock?

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