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Posted on 05/30/2003 8:05:46 AM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin

HONG KONG - In Beijing's Fengtai district, a family living in an apartment building in the Niwa neighborhood suspected that its pet dog, a Pekingese, had become infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Upon suspecting their pet's infection, a member of the family promptly threw the dog from the family apartment's window, on the sixth floor of the building. The small but tough dog did not die after its fall on to the sidewalk below. When the family discovered this, they dug a small grave for the animal and buried it alive. What is it that is driving people to turn into brutal killers of the pets that, in many cases, they had cherished having at their sides for years? What is it that has caused many of China's pet owners to kill their beloved pets without even a shred of sympathy for the animals?

As SARS has spread through China's cities and countryside this year, there has been a marked change in people's demeanor. The source of this change is unclear. What's most frightening is reports in local media of how in the blink of an eye spurious rumors or speculation have spread to every corner of the gigantic country - and how many people believe such things. A couple examples of this include the skyrocketing demand for vinegar to boil for disinfecting homes through fumigation and the far-fetched notion that drinking mung-bean juice could make one impervious to SARS. There's been no rhyme or reason to these episodes. Now that scientists are saying that the virus originally came from animals, a tragic fate has befallen the dogs of China. Scientists have yet to arrive at any final conclusions, but the masses appear to have determined that whatever animals they see on the street are as good as infected with the virus and that they therefore must be eliminated.

Every local government is pushing extreme vigilance in the face of SARS, summed up by the expression "ying shi er sheng" (be like a hawk and you will live), and it seems that one after another, the people of various cities and counties are interpreting this government-issued call in their own ways.

Snapshot one

A group of Beijing children not much older than 10 chase a dog that had been hiding in a small nook. The dog had been abandoned by its owner. Some of the children are carrying poles as they chase from behind. Others are pelting the dog with stones as it runs. The group of children are laughing in a surprisingly callous manner. A boy in the group says that beating dogs is part of the fight against SARS.

Snapshot two

Nanjing's "Dog-Beating Corps" has come to the home of an elderly resident as a result of complaints from his neighbors. The man's neighbors informed the group that the man's trash had a "bad odor" to it. Hence, "with the blessings of the local police", the Dog-Beating Corps forces its way into the elderly man's home and bludgeons the eight stray dogs that the man has been caring for until they are all dead and then clean up the mess. The vast majority of the man's neighbors welcome this action and some even praise it.

Snapshot three

There are some panicking Beijing dog owners who fear that their pets are infected with SARS, but are unwilling to force their dogs on to the street where they will be beaten to death. Hence they go to pet clinics in hopes of having a veterinarian euthanize their dogs.

Snapshot four

Ever since the first SARS patient was discovered in the city of Hangzhou, a large number of people have been abandoning their pets on the street in order to avoid being infected. There's also a good many people who are calling the municipal government and asking that the authorities collect their pets from their homes and take care of them. These saddening snapshots effectively depict the confusion of SARS and how, once again, people who are desperate for answers are shooting arrows in the dark, hoping that their efforts will have some effect on a situation that is out of any individual's control.

In this nationwide attack on dogs, there has been a constant war of words between the two camps divided by the issue. The advocates are people such as those in the Dog-Beating Corps in Nanjing, where local media have fueled the attack with bloody pictures reminiscent of the Nanjing Massacre committed by the Japanese army in the then-capital of China during World War II. Opponents are typically animal-rights activists who are, not surprisingly, outraged. These opponents offer the argument that it is not known for sure whether animals can transmit SARS to humans, but it is indisputable that humans are capable of transmitting the virus to other humans. If it's acceptable to kill dogs now, then surely it is acceptable to kill humans, they argue.

Non-participating supporters of the attacks on dogs are quite numerous. The dominant view among them seems to be, "We should value the lives of dogs. At the same time, we should respect human life. There is no way that one can argue that a human's life has the same value as a dog's. SARS has already mutated, so we shouldn't underestimate the potential it has to wreak further havoc. So it's necessary to work constantly to protect human life." The wave of violence against dogs in Nanjing leaves one with a deeply troubling feeling. Despite the lack of any conclusive scientific evidence that proves that SARS can be spread to humans by animals, many people are deciding to slaughter the city's dogs out of suspicion, treating dogs as if they are not living creatures. At the present stage in China's SARS episode, the entire country from top to bottom should focus its energy, its time and its human, financial and material resources on learning practical and verifiable information from its experiences in the anti-SARS battle. There is no reason for the country to get tangled up in problems that don't exist.

Nanjing's and Beijing's dogs and puppies have already been pretty much killed off wholesale. Meanwhile, other cities in China are continuing to kill dogs in what appears to be an unnecessary front in the "People's War" against SARS.

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