Animal Rights is Small but Noticeable Issue in China, Reports Paper
Mar 3rd, 2008 • Posted in: NewsMovement is low-key but may be gaining momentum
BEIJING
Human rights, or the lack of them, have long been the focus of criticism leveled at China, as well as the centerpiece of reform movements there. But as the Economist points out, a nascent animal rights movement has taken hold in China as well.
“Animals are treated dreadfully in Chinese farms, laboratories, zoos, and elsewhere,” according to the report. “There are grim factories where thousands of live bears in tiny cages are tapped for medicinal bile. At safari parks, live sheep and poultry are fed to lions as spectators cheer. At farms and in slaughterhouses, animals are killed with little concern for their suffering.”
The piece notes that even the normally vocal group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals speaks softly in China, with low-key ads and quiet diplomacy with local officials on such problems as handling stray dogs.
But there are small signs that the movement is taking hold, the Economist notes. Various Chinese celebrities have adopted the cause, and vegetarian restaurants are spreading, though it’s not clear if the spike is cue to concern for ethics or trendiness.
One woman profiled in the piece, Jill Robinson of Britain, spends most of her time caring for bears rescued from farmers who raise them to sell their bile, which is viewed as curative in China. She tells the Economist that support of animal rights is rising among young people and attitudes are beginning to turn around.
“If China can stop binding women’s feet,” she asks, “why should it not abandon cruelty to animals?”
Source: Economist, Feb. 28.
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