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| The HSUS |
| Cats are said to be the targets of Beijing's latest "cleanup." |
By Erin Luebkeman
With the approach of the 2008 Summer Olympics, China is reportedly once again taking flawed measures in an effort to exhibit the image of an environmentally conscious and hygienic capital city to athletes and spectators this August. This time, officials have announced a mandate to rid Beijing of stray cats through a massive roundup and the planned destruction of hundreds of thousands of animals.
The government is warning citizens that the street cat population represents a health risk and Beijing residents, terrified of disease, are apparently putting even their own pets onto the streets for collection and extermination.
According to news reports, the eradication is already underway, with cats being captured, crowded into cages and taken to holding facilities on the outskirts of the city. Welfare groups in China are revealing that cats are being inhumanely killed or, in some cases, being left to die slowly in cramped cages from disease, neglect, or infection.
Humane Society International has sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee condemning these misguided tactics. HSI has also been in contact with Chinese animal welfare organizations on the ground, who have said they are presently working on solutions with government officials to halt cruel roundups of stray cats and managed colonies and to improve conditions at government-run shelters.
Sources say that the roundup was ordered by the city's agricultural bureau director at a recent meeting of the municipal parliament, when he stated that all stray cats must be caught and taken off the streets before the end of June "to ensure the city looks its best for the two-week-long Olympic games starting on August 8."
After the global outcry over Chinese dog culls and confiscation cases in 2006, Beijing should anticipate similar fallout from its latest conduct of animal cruelty en masse. While it is understandable that Beijing would want to present itself as a clean and progressive city, it is unlikely that the world community will find this laudable at the expense of innocent animals.
