Tim Murray by

10 million dogs and 4 million cats are tortured to death in China each year, according to animal rights groups

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Cats Terrified by Chinese Torturers

ews item: Thousands of dogs are slaughtered at annual meat festival, "where every year animals are kept dozens to a cage before being electrocuted, burned and skinned while alive and conscious" This delightful practice, if imported to Canada, would undoubtedly make our society more "vibrant". Canada was such a boring place when the dominant British population founded the SPCA on the model of the RSPCA in their home country. Now that we are blessed with a large and growing Chinese population, we can hopefully expect that they too will copy many of the quaint traditions that exist in their home country. Surely it would be worthy of a government grant. Empathy and compassion for animals is a "White" thing you know. It's another relic of Western 'privilege' that must be uprooted and cast aside to make way for other cultural perspectives, which of course are as legitimate as ours. (Canadian axiom: All cultures are created equal).Seriously, it is no coincidence that European-founded nations evidence the largest percentage of dog owners and the highest per capita expenditures on dog care. Some 18,000-32,000 years ago, long before the advent of agriculture, European hunter-gatherers developed a symbiotic relationship with dogs which proved to be invaluable in tracking and bringing down game. These dogs were descended from a distinctly powerful, aggressive and mega-faunal wolf that evolved into animals that were selected for behavioural traits that served European preferences and needs. It is reasonable to conclude that over tens of thousands of years the utilitarian and mutually beneficial relationship between Europeans and their dogs accounts for our intrinsic affection for canines. This suggests that our bond is more than simply cultural, but built into the psychology and physiology of both partners.Of course, cruelty toward animals has long been a feature of European-based societies too. But, thanks to the persistent efforts of humane organizations, there was a sea change in how these societies perceived animals. Much of their success, however, can be attributed to the fact that they were able to draw upon currents of compassion that already ran through the culture. One need only look at how animals were humanized in children's literature, or at the appearance of a horse in an English cathedral after the Church of England officially declared that horses have souls. I rather doubt that I will ever see the photo of a horse standing inside of a mosque. In my community, people brought their dogs into the local church to be blessed on the occasion of St. Francis of Assisi Day. A much better fate, I would think, that being skinned and burned alive at a Chinese festival or tormented, beaten and sliced open by Muslims in Sharifabad on the northern Yazdi plain.But given the scale and rapidity of Canada's multicultural make-over, one wonders if dogs, cats and horses will be continued to be held in such high regard. Will humane societies make the cut?Perhaps, if the SPCA is to survive the purge, Canadians of European origin can be removed from its board and replaced by Afghani tribesmen, Somali villagers, and Islamists from Pakistan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, and other "New Canadians" with a solid reputation in caring for animals. After all, it is imperative that any nation which is proud to call itself "multicultural" be "inclusive", and that every government agency or governing body reflect in its composition the community that it serves. According to the Anti-Racist Research Council, Afghanis and Somalis continue to be under-represented in the SPCA, a fact that can only be a result of systemic racism and our parochial, culture-bound aversion to dog-fighting.The Chinese too seemed to have been neglected in SPCA recruiting efforts, which indicates that Canada, specifically British Columbia, continues to struggle with its legacy of anti-Asian racism. Despite years of intensive indoctrination in the nation's classrooms, many Canadians appear to be unaware that not too long ago, Chinese Shi-Tzus and Pugs, as well as Indian Pariahs and Spitz, were barred from entry into this country. In 1916, in fact, a ship of rescue dogs from India was even turned away by Vancouver Port Authorities, and it was not until recently that both Parliament and the Provincial Legislature acknowledged this shameful episode in our history and made a formal apology. Compensation is also apparently in the offing.Reflecting upon this development, an unnamed Chinese-Canadian History Professor at the University of British Columbia gleefully predicted that English Setters, Scots Terriers and Irish Wolf-Hounds are on their way out, "soon be relegated to the dustbin of this province's history".I think we would do well to look to the Chinese for direction in these matters. Since they have been in the civilization business for millennia, it must be assumed that their values, beliefs and traditions are the result of the accumulated wisdom of 8,000 years. To think that our ways are a match for theirs, or that somehow our relatively kind attitude toward dogs and cats testifies to a higher level of consciousness and ethics, is the height of ethnocentric arrogance. What you perceive to be wanton cruelty is, from an Asian or Afghani perspective, just the value-judgment of a White hegemonist afflicted by 'colorism'. So remove your lens and check your privilege!Seriously, the Chinese know a lot more about dogs than we do. The Chinese love dogs — so much so that in China dogs are found in every wok of life.