Please deliver to: Wanzhou government, care of Chongqing
City
From:
RE: Cancel Wanzhou District Dog Cull Now
Pages including this:
Fax number sent to: (86)235-8238583
Dear Wanzhou Government Officials:
I wholly oppose the Wanzhou district's plan to slaughter all
companion dogs in an anti-rabies sweep of the southwestern city
of Chongqing. I understand residents must relinquish dogs for extermination by March
15, 2007. Police will use electric shock to kill every
companion dog in the area.
I implore officials to cancel the cull, scheduled to begin after
March 16. Please initiate a widespread vaccination program in
place of violence. I urge local, provincial and national authorities to acknowledge
vaccination drives as the most efficient means to assure
public health. Gratuitous killing is profoundly cruel � to both animals and citizens
who love them.
Beijing's similar clampdown on strays and unregistered pets generated
such negative publicity, officials called it off.
Individuals and organizations worldwide were outraged by accounts of officers beating
puppies until dead. The media has condemned mass
culls as a crude form of "disease prevention," especially when rabies can be managed
through inoculation and cooperation between human,
animal and municipal health agencies.
Reactive mass culls have proven incapable of curbing stray
populations or inhibiting disease outbreaks. I ask the Wanzhou
government to respect its own citizens, as well as those around the world, who regard
companion dogs as family members. Certainly
authorities in a modern city can devise non-violent ways to handle public safety
concerns.
Please foster a culture of responsible guardianship, rabies
prevention, and humane animal control. If the brutal
extermination of dogs begins on March 16, 2007, it will irreversibly shame China and
the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
In fact, mass culls in the Yunnan province (July 25-30, 2006) and
Beijing (November 2006) have already prompted a
worldwide boycott of Chinese tourism and products. Please call off the slaughter of
all companion animals and restore China's integrity.
I respectfully await your reply,
your name
address, country
fax number and email
